


Rainbow Haven Acres

by Shatterpath



Series: The 7 AUs of Christmas 2018 [6]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Background Avalance, Cussing, Eventual Smut, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Multi, Other, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Past Tense, Polyamory, Present Tense, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Team as Family, Threesome - F/F/F, background Sawlane, references to Captain Marvel, references to Oceans 8
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2020-07-19 11:37:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 118,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19973425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: Sometimes, you have to reboot your life. Sometimes, you get to do that with people you love. And sometimes? Just sometimes…You find love on the journey.This is my entirely self-indulgent homesteader fic, and a lovely dive into the glorious mix of personalities that is agentreigncorp, or Alex/Sam/Lena. I've been wanting to write this triad for ages, and this was a really good match. I've loved all my colorful parade of Alexes and Lenas over the years, and now, I love Sam too. Not to mention Ruby and the daughter I added because I CAN.  :)So, yes,this story is agentreigncorp aka Alex/Sam/Lena endgame. We open to the established pairing of Lena/Sam and the temptation that is Alex, but it's not a stupid love triangle, I promise! This has grown into a fascinating exploration of what loves means to different people and how odd ways of coming together can still result in something solid and strong.





	1. The Start

**Author's Note:**

> HOLY @#*! YOU GUYS! This chapter marks --get this-- TWO AND A HALF MILLION WORDS ON AO3!!!!!!!! I mean… just… HOW???? Damn…
> 
> Happy Christmas In July! This is technically part of the missing two pieces from the last Christmas collection. When you see the size of this monster, the lateness will make more sense. O.O
> 
> Warning, will cause homesteading pangs. If you already suffer from this condition (like me), please proceed at your own risk.
> 
> This entire fic is a completely self-indulgent love letter to some of my greatest wishes and dreams. It's drawn out and rambly and again, self-indulgent. I'm perfectly okay with that. Don't expect anything to happen fast, or for them to meet face to face for MONTHS of story time and goddess-knows how many chapters. I didn't hold back on the details, even for me. As you can see by the chapter count, this is gonna be a big one!
> 
> The formatting is an experiment, as I used both 3rdperson/past tense AND 1stperson/present tense. It makes sense in context.  
> A special thanks to Ariestess (A Magiluna Stormwriter) for coaching me through using blockquotes! This piece would be really confusing without them.
> 
> A huge shout-out to daskey, mw4vt9, RainbowRiddler, badwolf-timeandspace, TeamScienceMegaNerds, peaceofyourheart, panyanuk and everyone that has encouraged me both past and present. These epics would be damn hard without you guys!
> 
> Miscellanea: There is a ridiculous amount of cussing in this. It amuses me enormously! This version of familiar characters are the very essence of 'no fucks to give'. They did what they damn well wanted to and I made NO attempts to hold them back. Most of the homesteading info is as accurate as I can be without having done it myself and I did research to give events a layer of realism. Even when it got a little weird, lol.

I am a child of my city, my status, my education, of the expectations placed on me.

All of which are larger than life.

We are Luthors, old and grand, and to be honest, a bit cold. To be aloof to the slings and arrows constantly coming at you from all sides is a real thing in the circles we were all born to. Even Mom, who married up and sometimes is the only thing that seems to keep us from flying apart. The old dragon was never a warm mother, but she knows what the hell she's doing and her ruthlessness is a sight to behold.

As the younger child of my family legacy, I am the backup in case of emergency, which can be frustrating, and leaves me at loose ends sometimes. It also left me a rebellious brat in my growing pains leaving childhood behind, which I suppose is typical.

That I ended up a statistic is something Mom has been kind enough to not ride me about. Too much.

Still, I can't complain for the gift of my wild spark of a daughter, the product of a short college fling. I like to think it was she that calmed my fear, gave me the strength to carry her through the long growth of her tiny self into the squalling infant I held in my arms and cried with the intensity of feeling wrecking me far more than the trauma of birth. It was two days before my twentieth birthday and I would never be the same again.

Oh, but it was hard to carry on. Exhausted to my bones and stressed by this new responsibility and the fear and adoration of my wild girl, everything else slipped. For the first time in my life my grades dropped and I had to drop not one, but two classes, but I couldn't bear to just hand my baby off to someone else.

My chaotic little Lily; my joy and stress and the link to something so much bigger than myself. She has always redefined me since the moment I knew she grew within the haven of my body. Together we learned and loved and got to know one another, even as I did my best to keep up with things outside of just her.

There were a great many nights of little sleep, of trying to stay awake for lab work, of slaving over homework with Lily strapped snugly to my torso. But still, felt as though I were losing myself to not just the experience, but what everyone else had to say about it. Have a child and there is no shortage of advice.

It all came to a head in ways I never could have anticipated…

\----

In a manner not entirely unlike how I'd gotten myself knocked up in the first place, I let some college cronies talk me into a wild night. School was over and New York was sweltering around us and I was crumbled around the edges from the strain of the last year.

They didn't have to try very hard to convince me. 

That none of us were of legal age to drink meant little to any of us. Money could buy just about anything, including a damn convincing ID. 

And I needed to step away from everything weighing me down, if only for an evening.

So with my little one safe in the hands of her grandparents, I gave myself a night to just get lost in.

The Boiler Room had been a different place back then, dark and edgy. It hovered between 'shithole' and 'unthreatening dive', depending on the mood of the crowd. Dumb kids oversaturated with all that privilege and all that school asked of us, we loved it.

Gravitating to the lone woman behind the huge bar was easy. She was a looker, tall and lean with whipcord solid working muscle and a smile wide and bright as a tropical sea. She had some south-of-the-border blood in her, messily bobbed hair streaked with a touch of sunshine and the sort of warm, dark amber eyes that drew you in.

Naturally, we were all fascinated with her.

I'm pretty sure over time all but one of the five of us has clued into being somewhere on the queer spectrum. Shocker.

The hot bartender charmed us with specialty drinks and we happily emptied our wallets like the stupid, drunk fowl we'd let ourselves degrade into. Once thoroughly fleeced, she called us a cab, but kept me on the hook, holding that damn ID I'd spent a decent wad of cash on between long fingers.

"Y'know, princess, for as much as I bet you paid for this, you got an inferior product. Still, I'm going to keep this for my hall of shame." There was a bit of danger in the corners of her eyes gone darker with intent, no matter that her smile was a mile wide as she added, "oh, and thank you to you and the posse for a most excellent sales night. Particularly as I didn't serve you a drop of alcohol. Come back after you turn twenty-one and I'll show you a proper good time."

And she laughed as she sauntered off like a porn star.

As startled and sozzily pissed off as I was, I still recognized that I had never been so nonchalantly both flirted with and threatened with such skill. All I could do was slink out and cling to soggy memories of the night.

Oh, and cling I did.

A year later, I was high on graduating and bought the whole damn fifteen-story building with the intent of a solid investment in a corner of Queens begging for an upgrade, and to fire her admittedly fine ass. Lex was so entertained by my evil plot that he forked over the millions and handed me the deed, just to see what I would do.

Instead of the stupidest revenge, I found a soulmate and a home.

She'd been running the bar for nearly two years, keeping it afloat even as gentrification crept closer and closer, the local leases beginning to climb like vines. My money was more than welcome in the aging bar and the layers and layers of apartments above. I combed through the tenants and cooked up grandiose dreams while Sam kept me grounded in reality. We were a hell of a good team right out of the gate, a balance for one another and our daughters.

Because I got Ruby in the deal too.

I couldn't love that kid --full of sass and brains and cleverness-- more if she were my own. She accepted me and my get-into-everything daughter, with an ease that was humbling. In an instant, they were friends. In days, they were sisters.

Sam, better with numbers and linear things, was grateful that I could keep up with her clever kid and her mercurial mind. That, and her academics --already good, solid grades-- climbed into the top four percent of her school. After a year, I even talked them into a private school to really get that brain in shape; even if we all hate being separated during the week.

Sam found all the weak places where Lily and I had trouble with one another, embraced the chaos and constant questions and things broken and screaming tantrums utterly in stride. In them, in the dynamic we built between the four of us, I found a new strength and purpose.

Five years later, and we're a real family through and through… even as I still feel like there's a crumbling emotional cliff far too close.

\----

If not for Sam, I have no idea what sort of person I might have become. A ruthless dragon like Mom? Taking it all for granted like Dad? An old-before-his-time renaissance man like my brother?

But I got Sam somehow, and she is the balance I needed, even if I didn't know it at the time. Me and Sam? I've never known quite how to explain me and Sam.

Even after six years of connection, of friendship and love and partnering in all ways, I still feel like she has one foot out the door, an eye on every window, ready to bolt if I cling too hard. 

Sometimes I think our daughters are the only thing anchoring her to one place.

\----

The building isn't much different from all the others in this neighborhood, though I'm partial to the fancy corbels that give it a bit of distinction. The vast changes made to the structure are mostly on the inside, which includes the very private gate that yawns open at an instruction from my very secure smartphone. There are two snug parking spots, space enough for a small delivery truck and a second gate leading to the alley out back.

The chauffeur opens the town car's door and I distractedly thank him as I head over to the entrance door and punch in my code. After a wait in the cramped foyer, I ride the elevator to the top and run the security gauntlet into the sprawling apartment that is home.

"Sammy? I hate to bail on you, but I have to make an emergency trip out to LA."

There are days I hate my role in my family and all the trappings that come with it. But my freedom from most of it means I get the volcano-like explosions when the bullshit overflows. Such is life.

"Lex has his damn panties in a wad over some investment he's dabbling in that has, how did he put it? 'Ugly and expensive rumblings.' I technically owe him for helping us out last Christmas and, frankly, I'm feeling a little tense and could use rolling some heads."

I'm sure Sam was wearing that sardonic-yet-affectionate expression before I look up from pawing frantically through my purse like a starving badger. 

It's eerie sometimes, how like her mother Ruby is. Even when we met all those years ago, Ruby was sharp as a tack and twice as sarcastic, which made for an interesting challenge to befriend the eight year old. The years have only grown the similarities. Mostly, it's cute and adorable. Now? The stereo stares are making me feel guilty.

Chuckling, Ruby hops up from a stack of schoolbooks to hug me and I relish the affection just as much as I ever have. Luthors aren't naturally the touchy-feely sorts and neither my daughter nor my beloved Arias duo have ever respected that. Luckily for me.

"You're in luck, Mama. The mini is in her room with headphones on, finishing up her homework."

Fourteen and already starting to inch past me, Ruby hugs like a linebacker and I love it. She rolls her eyes but lets me get in my customary kiss to the forehead and stroke her hair. There's a bit of vulnerability in her eyes when she asks, "do you have to leave right away?"

"Unfortunately. As always, his emergencies are time sensi-- Oh, Ruby, baby, I'm so sorry. Your play is this coming weekend isn't it?"

Squeezing harder, the 'uuuugh, affection' year old smiles that Arias smile at me that makes me truly feel like her second mother. I've never wearied of how it makes me feel.

"You'll have time to make it up to me. We're running two weekends to give all the parents a shot at seeing us."

"Oh thank god. I've been looking forward to that."

"I'll grab your suitcase so you can talk to Lily."

"Thank you, sweetie!"

Sam just continues to smile tenderly, smooching my head when I give her a quick, hard hug before heading down the hall to approach my Lily.

Pausing at the threshold of her room, I just soak her in for long moments. How she's grown from that vulnerable, squalling infant tiny in my arms. Now, she is a sturdy seven and two thirds, looking ever more like me and the father I barely remember. Long, raven-black hair, thick and perpetually wavy has been tamed back into a braid and I recognize Sam's neat hand in the job. The fling's Indian heritage is strong in her good looks and coloring, but there is no mistaking the shape of me in her, ever more obvious as she grows older.

Where she lays on her bed on her belly with an open book and her laptop, feet swaying in the open air, she is every inch the diligent student. Until she notices me in the corner of her eye and lights up in delight.

"Mommy!"

Shedding her headphones, Lily becomes a wild rush at me for a full-body hug. She has long been a small child, but whatever they're feeding her at her boarding school has her growing like a stalk of corn it seems like, taller and lankier every weekend! 

"Hi, baby. It's so good to see you! How was school?"

I'm so very lucky that Lily authentically loves school, instantly rambling on about her week as I dawdle off to the master bedroom, her weight heavy in my arms. I've long believed that she had been so cranky and restless as a very small child because she simply didn't have the tools to properly communicate with the world around her. Now, she can't get enough.

The sight of the open travel case, Ruby already clanking about the bathroom to collect what I need, has Lily looking sharply at me.

"Yes, I have to go on another little trip for business, love," I explain gently and she pouts and makes a disappointed sound.

"Awwww!"

"I know, I don't like it either, but I promise to head home before next weekend, even if it means that your Uncle Lex has to go to California himself!"

Reassured, Lily hops down to help Ruby with getting my sundries together while I hit the closet for supplies. These trips happen a few times every year, so there's no shock value in them, though I would certainly rather have a little warning…

Despite it meaning that I'm leaving, the girls make packing fun, horsing around while they help. The laughter makes it easier, filling me up with love to sustain me while I'm away from them. We rush when the doorbell bongs though the apartment, signaling that time is up.

The girls scamper off to greet Jess while I take a hard look at my supplies and go over my mental checklist. I've traveled a lot over my life and this is old hat now. Quickly closing up my check-in bag and the smaller ones to keep on my person, I head out to the babble of voices. 

As patient as always, Jess is letting the girls hug her and yammer at her about school and miscellanea. She is as much a standard fixture in their lives as their friends and teachers at school. After all, she's underfoot pretty much daily and is basically family.

A year older than me, Jess has been my executive assistant since I got myself knocked up and really is the other half of my brain and the most trusted person in my life outside of my little family here.

"The car is here," she says simply and that is the cue for my family to descend on me. I relish the crush of them strangling the breath out of me, leaving the prickle of tears in my eyes.

Loathe to leave any of them, I stare into their different shades of beautiful brown eyes, Ruby's with layers of blue and green like a satellite photo of our verdant world, Sam's amber brown like sunshine turned to dark honey, and my baby's near-black gaze like looking into the heart of infinity.

"I love you," is all I need to say, collecting a last round of hugs and kissing the girl's foreheads and Sam's soft smile.

Family affection dispensed, I gather up my things, adding a small canvas sack Sam hands over to shove in my satchel. Doubtlessly it has the same sort of healthy goody selections she makes for the girls when sending them off on Sunday evenings to return to school.

"No going to Disneyland without me!" Lily yells as I follow Jess out the front door and Ruby laughs in agreement.

"Wouldn't dream of it, loves!"

A quick elevator ride down and we're handing off our things to our driver and collapsing into the backseat of my favorite towncar. It's a peaceful drive to the airport as Jess isn't the chit-chatty sort.

Once through the drag of security checks, we dawdle off to the business-class lounge where I immerse myself brainstem-deep in the latest of Lex's business forest fires. It's a thorny one and I lose track of time, but eventually a disgusted noise escapes me, tamped down in deference to location, and I lean back in my seat.

"My brother is an idiot when dealing with people sometimes, I swear," is my grumble and it takes real effort to resist the urge to rub at my eyes in irritation. God forbid I mess up my makeup and be unseemly for the masses. Being a girl sucks some days.

Chuckling with warm sympathy, Jess doesn't even bother looking up from her tablet. 

Lex plucked Jess out of where she was being wasted in the generic secretarial pool and set her at my side. I'd have lost my mind years ago without her keeping track of the endless and maddening details that can be my life, depending on my family's whims and random chance. Some days, I think it would be so much easier to not be in New York with them, but what other place could even hold a Luthor?

Anyway, Jess knows us well, particularly Lex and I, and any old money worth its mansions understands the very real value in keeping close those that know their strengths and foibles… not to mention where the skeletons hide.

Which brings up the nagging little worry that I can't shake that something weird is going on with Lex.

There's growing numbers of skeevy associates and a few decimal point values missing from just enough pots to make me… wary. While I love my big brother, he's more and more a stranger with every passing year and every step he takes towards the open hell-mouth that is the GOP hive mind. Sure, it's a great time to be rich, but having money and a soul is tough.

More and more and more, I want to scream out my frustrations to the uncaring sky and just walk the fuck away.

Needing a distraction, I go for the cliché and dig out my phone to check it, unspeakably grateful to see there's a text from Ruby.

_Hey Mama, since you're gonna be in Los Angeles, here's a YouTube reviewer Mom loves so you can get good eats. And Mom totally thinks the older sister is hot, don't let her fool you._

God help me if my mother ever hears the undignified guffaw that earns me a few askance looks that I decide to ignore and click on the provided link. God, I love that kid so much.

Luckily, Ruby has me well trained to keep a pair of earbuds on me, and when I go digging, I find she's slipped in my fancy wireless ones for the trip. Good girl. A quick check on the Bluetooth connection and I settle in. The scene opens on a busy urban street with a pretty, mid-twenties blonde in a fashionable sundress with a smile like the Los Angeles sun and bare arms that look like she could bench press the tree behind her.

"Today I'm going to try out the reputed best salad hotspot in the City of Angels, guys! I can almost see my sister rolling her eyes at the rabbit food, but I was dared! So come with me on the next food adventure. I'm Kara Danvers and this is Ka-Chow!"

Immediately charmed by this Kara Danvers, I settle in to be entertained. Never a fan of flying, I always wait until the absolute last second to board, the doors sealing up behind Jess and I. Even the perks of the finest domestic business class accommodations can't completely take the edge off. Nothing for it but to grit my teeth and power through. Once past the unnerving shaking and pressure of takeoff and climbing high into the sky, the Wi-Fi kicks in and I'm happy for the distraction of Kara roving Los Angeles with the bubbly disposition of a cheerleader and an appetite like a linebacker.

By the time I doze off somewhere over Illinois, I have several places I'm curious about and several more I will get nowhere near. The nap isn't a long one, but it settles some of my nerves. With little else to do until I'm on the ground, I go back to YouTube and Ruby's suggestion. Only this time, I take a closer look. Her written bio is a rambling, cheerful bit of fluff that I had expected from watching a handful of her videos, but the end takes me by surprise. 

'So, my sister, you remember her, the awesome doctor in Seattle? She wants to do something new. She and her best friend have bought a farm out in the middle of Oregon, can you believe that? And, crazier still, I'm going to join them! This might be temporary, might be forever, I have no idea. But I like the idea of an adventure. I've loved being your guide through the Los Angeles food scene, but it's time for me to move on. I hope that maybe you'll like my new adventure. There's a link below to the new channel, and I wish everyone well!'

I can easily envision the cheerful wave and wonder if that wasn't a transcript of an episode. Still, I bet plenty of her followers stayed with her, with that snappy patter, cheerfulness and wholesome good looks.

Sure enough, at the top of the thumbnail suggestions is a tiny Kara Danvers, frozen in mid-gesture. The channel it's from is called 'Rainbow Haven Acres'. Well, I like the name anyway. This must be where she went after Ka-Chow. Between that and the hilarious title, I'm well curious enough to click on it.

> **Catnip, OR, The Needy Fuzzbutts. Alex's words, not mine! AKA: The Adorable, It Burns. June 8th.  
> ** 18934 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on June 16, 2017 
> 
> "So, the kittens are finally big enough to start wandering!" Kara was breathless with excitement and she nearly grabbed Brainy's camera to squeal into it. As quietly as she could manage, which really wasn't all that quiet, she crept closer to the big cage built into the barn's superstructure. "Mama B is still wary of most of us, but she likes Alex well enough. Of course." Her affectionate and slightly jealous exasperation couldn't dampen her exhilaration though, because, well, kittens! "Is this lens filter working to ignore the cage wire?"
> 
> The cage they'd labored so hard to build had been holding up amazingly well against Mama B's escape attempts. It was a double stall, nearly twenty feet long and almost seven feet wide. Sturdy hardware cloth of wire welded into half inch squares sealed off the area from anything bigger than a bumblebee getting in or out. Later, when the cats were let loose, they could clean the cage up and make it a nice coop for something even as big as turkeys!
> 
> Brainy hummed something non-committal as he fiddled with his camera to catch the action. Happy to be allowed to walk after her injury, Alex hobbled into the cage with her sturdy aluminum cane and was immediately accosted by her feline step-children. Her weary sigh at their clustering around her feet and crying for attention didn't fool anyone.
> 
> Clad in the usual Carhartt pants low around her hips, a blue sports bra and damp with sweat from the summer heat against the backdrop of weathered barn wood, bales of hay and shaky baby kittens, Alex looked like she was setting up some sort of rural fantasy scene of the dirty variety. Brainy's careful use of the invading sunlight showing off the ink in her skin and the muscled physique she'd earned with hard work, only added to the appeal.
> 
> Which meant, of course, that Lucy had to mouth off.
> 
> "Aww, the poor babies can't climb your mean ol' pants," she taunted and the narrow-eyed look she received clearly translated the silent, 'fuck you.' That, and a cheerfully extended middle finger.
> 
> Hobbling a few steps, Alex sat on a bale of hay and stretched out her booted feet to give the kittens a reasonable slope to climb. They scrambled up her legs and milled about her thighs and torso with choruses of baby voices. A particularly persistent and vocal little calico got picked up so it could paw and kiss at Alex's soft smile.
> 
> "Dear god," Lucy mocked with clear affection. "No ovary is safe with you half naked smiling like that and playing kissy-face with a kitten. You're a monster, Danvers. I'm gonna get the hose."
> 
> Kara just sighed wearily. "The hits are so going to skyrocket when I post this, but jeez, the comments are going to sound like soft-core porn."
> 
> "Pussy loves your sister!" Lucy cackled, laughing all the harder at Kara's disgusted look.
> 
> Winn had some definite editing to do before they could post the video. 

The video doesn't disappoint, but I still pause it halfway through. I can now see what Ruby meant about her mom's crush on the hot sister! There should be a warning on that much sweaty, gloriously toned woman. Yeah, her short pal is cute too, but there's something about this Alex's broad shoulders and playful, dark eyes that does something to me. The tattoos and shaggy red wine hair that makes her look sort of wild and fae doesn't hurt either.

Grabbing my phone, I text Sam. ' _Between the pretty face, rippling muscles and enough ink to make me terribly curious, I see now why you have a crush on the older sister. ;p_ '

As it's after eight now, which makes it eleven in New York, it's more than an hour before I get a response.

' _Did that rotten kid of mine tell you that? Ugh. Still though, arms!_ '

' _LOL! You misspelled that. I think you meant abs._ '

' _Why Miss Lena, you sound like you might be getting a little crush yourself._ '

' _Yes, well, let it be said that you have excellent taste in women._ '

' _This is true. What episode did you watch?_ '

' _The one with the kittens climbing on her. Omg, the cutest thing I've ever seen! I'll bet my family fortune that her pal Lucy made some pussy joke they edited out._ '

' _Lol, I agree. But seriously, her arms, yowza! Do yourself a favor and watch them in order if you have the patience._ '

' _Speaking from experience?_ '

' _Indeed. Gotta go. Enjoy yourself!_ '

I send off a heart emoji in lieu of words, but before I can do more than hit 'send', the plane lurches downward to the noisy displeasure of the crowd. It's only a moment of terror, but I drop my phone and cling to the seat for dear life. After a moment, Jess pats me reassuringly, but any aplomb I had is gone now.

God, I hate flying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Call it ego, but I'm rather proud to have come up with 'Ka-Chow'!
> 
> IM world-building, because it wouldn't be me without these:  
> Shatterpath: i COULD even have Sam/Lena stumble over the YT channel late in the project. god knows I've mainlined a couple channels I loved. some go years back  
> rainbowriddler: that would give you a little more wiggle room with the state of the farm  
> Shatterpath: yeah! Like a lot of that rambling I did has already happened
> 
> Shatterpath: hmmmm. tell me if i'm nuts. What if the real time story is 1st person, and I do the videos maybe indented (block quotes) and 3rd person? Since they're literally being watched, that might be fun
> 
> Shatterpath: i named my AU farm 'Rainbow Haven Acres'  
> rainbowriddler: AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW  
> Shatterpath: disgusting, I know  
> rainbowriddler: But that's the beauty of it  
> Shatterpath: Lucy will gag at herself for it  
> rainbowriddler: -cackle-


	2. Getting Hooked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should also mention to keep an eye out on the timestamps! Like actual YouTube, that first vid was WILDLY out of order. From now on, at least until the two halves start coming together, we're mostly linear. Come to think of it, I should have mention the 'when' of the New York crew. Hmmmm…
> 
> I don't have a television at my desk, so I end up wandering YouTube when I'm bored or need a brain break. Of course, as we all know, the channel starts to adapt to what you watch and I quickly ended up with a handful of subjects from ancient aliens (yay Praveen!) to a crazy Aussie who rehabs Matchbox cars. (I also have fascination with watching wood-turners, but I digress.) Completely by chance, I found a homesteader channel called 'Lumnah Acres' that I quickly got hooked on. Yes, it's a guy, but he's an actual nice guy, not a Nice Guy(tm), who is devoted to his wife, daughter and animals. About 70% of what I've learned came from binging that. More came from knowing and helping out a bit, a friend who's family had a thoroughbred farm when I was in my mid-late 30s, and good old-fashioned reading and research!

After the scare of turbulence, I grit my teeth until we're on the ground, all thoughts of hot strangers and cute kittens gone from my head. Then it's off to our hotel to get some sleep and be ready to hit the ground running in the morning.

Putting out Lex's fires is exhausting, but we get a lot of the groundwork covered before the real hard work begins. With the day over and my nerves somewhat frayed, I somewhat brusquely turn away offers for socialization. I'm too far from home and family to be any sort of good company.

A few calls once Jess and I have gotten in behind our driver has me cheered that one of Kara Danvers' recommendations coordinates with a delivery service that will bring us not just dinner, but breakfast that can be heated at the suite. Excellent, my night is looking up already! As always, Jess knows me well and doesn't fill the welcome quiet of the drive with idle chatter. 

Once in our temporary haven, she shoos me off with a smile to soak up a long, hot shower and climb into comfy silk jammies. That and a glass of a good shiraz awaits me in the living room, where I call my girls one after the other, to see how they are doing. That pleasantly fills the empty time until dinner arrives to soothe the immediate bodily needs the wine can't cover. The Asian-Mex fusion place recommended makes me moan with happiness at the flavors and a pleasantly surprised Jess eats with more enthusiasm than is her custom.

With quiet goodnights, Jess and I head for our separate rooms to unwind and sleep as we see fit. I'm not quite ready for sleep yet, but take care of cleaning up before climbing into the bed to snuggle in. I know just how to kill a little time and pull up my browser on the laptop. Sure enough, when I go to YouTube, there's a recommendation waiting there for me. I go right to the home page for Rainbow Haven Acres and chuckle at the header full of LGBTQ+ symbols and an intro full of good will and tolerance. A couple rows down are a collection of playlists and I immediately click on 'The start of the journey, our Oregon Trail. February, part 1' and settle in to watch. 

Whoever does their editing is talented as hell, and has a cheeky sense of humor I admire. Interspersed with relevant scenes are scratchy-looking panels of cheesy written dialog and descriptions of things as though we the audience were watching a very old black and white movie. Some scenes have even been filtered to black and white for effect, spaghetti western music making it all the funnier.

Lucy and Alex somewhat hesitantly talk the idea out with Kara over IMs, shock turning to curiosity to hesitant enthusiasm. Then Kara shows up in Seattle --complete with tropey pose-and-wave with a cup in front of the original Starbucks coffee-- and they hash out the how they're going to pull it off. Turns out Lucy's uncle has some land he'll sell them cheap to spite his jerk kids. It makes me wince a little at the hurtful family drama that lurks in the tense corners of Lucy's expression. 

It's a moment of empathy with a stranger I sure as hell hadn't been expecting.

The editor skims over the emotional awkwardness, overlaying their excited chatting about plans over footage of money changing hands for furniture, appliances, various personal belongings, and a beautiful Ducati Monster that leaves Alex looking like she's going to cry, her fist tight around the check as the beast is driven away. A sped-up montage of their apartment sorted, packed and cleared out leaves a blink of empty white walls and hardwood floors before we're in the backseat of an SUV interior cramped with bodies and a jumble of belongings.

> **Assert The Yurt Alert! Kara stop, honestly… February 8.  
>  11962 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres   
> Published on February 13**
> 
> "I still can't believe you bought a yurt!" Kara laughed as she leaned as far as her seatbelt would allow to hug Alex around her seat. Still rattled from this insane thing they were doing, Alex welcomed the throttling.
> 
> February seventh was cold and wet and dreary as they left Seattle behind. Much of what Alex and Lucy owned was gone, deemed unnecessary to this new adventure. Most of what was left was in a storage unit, a few valuables stashed with Sara for safekeeping. The pack of four had spent the night breaking in their new camp cots in the living room of Sara and Ava's place to get what sleep they could around the lingering stress of the move and leaving city life behind.
> 
> "Oh, you love it," Alex teased back. "I even let you choose the exterior color, didn't I?"
> 
> Dancing in her seat like a little kid, Kara made a noise of childish glee and the others laughed. 
> 
> So far, Lucy was steady behind the wheel of her Subaru as all signs of civilization fell away to thick evergreen forest. It was as though nothing existed but the wide ribbons of asphalt and the cars on them. Alex had never gotten used to the sheer scale of nature in the Pacific Northwest.
> 
> "Y'know, you look at places like this and it makes perfect sense that the bigfoot legends are alive and well," Alex mused as the thick forest whipped by. "You could get ten feet into that mess and never find your way out."
> 
> "Speaking of getting into that mess," Lucy suddenly chimed in and stirred from her 'stoic driver' pose. "I need a break and I can practically hear Kara's stomach growling from here."
> 
> "How did you know?"
> 
> "Kara, you have the appetite and energy of any three people and I'm absolutely looking forward to getting a hammer in your hands and putting it to most excellent use!"
> 
> Soon they were fortified with coffee and breakfast sandwiches and Brainy made certain to keep his camera rolling as they headed back to the SUV and the trailer behind it. He was never sure when the bantering of Lucy and the sisters would provide some gold.
> 
> "Why Team Lanvers? That's stupid!" Lucy snarked at Alex, glowering up at her as they walked side by side. Utterly unperturbed by her pal, Alex shrugged and her grin was teasing.
> 
> "Because Dane is stupider." That earned her a sour look and Alex laughed. "Besides, due to your small stature, Lucy, you would make a lousy great dane." 
> 
> For once Kara got in the last word as she belted out across the parking lot, "you so Dane, you probably think this song is about yoooooooooou." 

  
  
My laugh is real. These women and even their quiet pal behind the camera are a riot. 

There's a stop at a lovely little place with a strange structure out front that I realize with a start of surprise is a yurt. It's actually very interesting, round with a conical roof and a clear dome capping it off. There are real wooden doors and it seems very solid and secure, not like a tent at all. Who knew?

While Alex strides off, the others empty out the trailer of a jumble of plastic storage bins. Soon, Alex returns with a pair of people and a forklift of… stuff. It looks like piles of long sticks finished to a glossy reddish brown, bundles of thick cloth and plastic and the same sort of dome I noticed on the completed yurt. All of it goes into the trailer and they reload before getting underway again. 

We're spared the details of their drive, but do get the highlights of the growing nervousness as they reach snow and it grows thicker as they wind their way up into some truly spectacular mountains.

"Maybe we should have waited for spring." Kara says nervously at one point and the screen flicks to that grainy black and white placard which this time reads, 'too late now!'

The next video is clearly early morning over a picturesque little town center that looks like a wintery postcard. The light is the particular bluish tinge of snow on the ground and possibly more on the way. Yawning and groaning, the team exits a motel no bigger than a three-car garage and they're off again. The roads are clearly treacherous, Lucy's hands whitened fists around the steering wheel and both Kara and Brainy making undignified noises as there's a little twerk and wiggle of tires on ice.

When Lucy carefully slows and pulls over to where snow is brushing her headlights to say calmly, "well crap," I sit up and take more careful notice. Thus begins their next adventure, set up with a placard of 'oh no! An obstacle!' and a fast-forward sequence of Brainy filming through the window as Lucy and Alex slog away through nearly knee-deep snow. They return with a small tractor moving at comically fast-forward speeds to clear away some of the accumulation. From inside the SUV, they watch and inch along behind it towards a red barn at the far side of a great swath of pristine snow.

Then the video jumps ahead in time where the tractor is finishing up shoving back the snow from a large patch of winter-dead grass. A stationary tripod films the others putting down large tarps. Another jump shows a pile of bundled materials, some in black tarps with print stamped on them, some heavy-looking metal tubes and struts and, incongruously, a mass of wooden stakes. Are they expecting vampires?

Nope, at ten times speed, the metal bits become arches, the tarped bundles the skin of a khaki tent twice the size of the dinky motel and the wooden stakes hold anchor lines into the ground. It's an impressive structure, to be honest, and the little party of four makes quick work of it as it seems to be in large sections that lace together. Smart!

Watching a flatbed truck drop off a pair of porta-potties is hilarious and a nail-biter. Between the conditions and the challenging size of the things, the driver can't get out of there fast enough.

Their editor is both teasing and kind to Brainy when a pretty brunette joins them, Lucy introducing her as Nia Nal and clearly the cameraman is clearly smitten. The placard reads, 'Awwwww!' and goes back to the tent where they are now a party of five.

None of Team Lanvers seem real happy as they cluster their army-type cots around an oversized camping woodstove and snuggle into thick sleeping bags. Melancholy clings to them as they trade goodnights and the screen fades to black and the simple text of, 'Welcome to the homestead. You made it.'

Very much feeling the melancholy they did back when the video was filmed, I shut down my browser and decide to head for bed. My adventure and theirs can wait for another night.

> **They come bearing gifts. February 11  
>  12560 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres   
> Published on February 17**
> 
> "Supplies from the city have arrived," Kara commented merrily as she filmed the approach of a beefy pickup truck floundering about in the snow, a late-model travel trailer behind it. "But the steel oxen are finding difficult footing in the mountainous conditions. All smart-alecking aside, Brainy had to step away before he hyperventilated over his baby."
> 
> Lucy was waving her arms around like a manic cartoon character, her voice bellowing through the peaceful afternoon. "God dammit, Sara, stop driving like a drunken whore! You break my barn, you buy it!"
> 
> With a wince, Kara mentally apologized to Winn as he was going to have to do some creative editing to clean up after the idiots.
> 
> After cracking up, Alex yelled, "are you drunk trucking?"
> 
> "Fuck you, Team Lanvers!" Sara called back where she was leaning out the window of the truck. "I can barely see a fucking thing and you are not helping!"
> 
> Why they needed to swear to get anything done was something Kara had never understood, but within twenty expletive-filled minutes, the trailer was snug in the barn and Brainy could breathe again. The big truck was still chuffing silent as Sara rocketed from the driver's seat to tackle Alex into the snow. With a bit more decorum, Ava greeted Lucy with a bear hug that made them look like a friendly golden retriever and a squirmy jack russel terrier. 
> 
> "I've missed you, asshole!" Sara yelled where she sat on Alex, pinning her into the Alex-shaped hole in the snow.
> 
> "We've been gone for four days!" Alex's yell back was nearly incoherent over her laughing.
> 
> "Yes, four days where you and Lucifer aren't disrupting our love life, eating our food and making general pains in the ass of yourselves. I miss you, okay?"
> 
> Alex just sat up and hugged her hard.
> 
> They'd met as gawky fourteen year olds just in high school, syncing up their mean streaks and smarts to an unbeatable duo. They'd come out together, stayed best friends when the romance was over, gotten one another through some tough times. Only college could separate them, and it was hard on both.
> 
> Alex had always freely admitted that she'd decided on Seattle for her doctorate work because Sara was there. And Sara had seen how stressed and worn thin her old pal had gotten over time, encouraging her to do this crazy thing even as she would miss her once again.
> 
> Rather than take a chance in overloading the limited electrical power, Brainy agreed to wait to bring up all the electronics in the trailer, but a couple small heaters would keep them from getting too cold.
> 
> Initial greetings done with, Kara was pulled into a group hug and Brainy received warm handshakes and smiles. Sara and Ava were enthusiastic about meeting a shy Nia as well.
> 
> "Presents!" Sara yelled as she released Kara, and clapped her hands demandingly. The 'really?' look Ava flashed her earned a smooch and the pair went to the rear door of the crew cab to start pulling out large boxes.
> 
> "I know you've done your best to prepare for winter temps," Ava explained as she handed boxes off to the others, "but you're going to need better gear than cross-country skier or Army surplus."
> 
> "Watch it, amazon," Lucy the veteran growled and Sara just grabbed her in an affectionate headlock while she explained further.
> 
> "So, it turns out one of my regular clients has a very useful connection. I remembered him mentioning it on one of our hell trips."
> 
> "The one where you rough it in the mountains for a week?" Alex queried with a shudder.
> 
> "Hell yes, you wuss. After doing this for a bit, you'd sail through my torture, you'll see."
> 
> "Yeah, no."
> 
> "Anyway, he hooked you up. Grab a box and show us where it's marginally warm, you loons."
> 
> "This year Valentine's Day is Christmas!" Ava enthused, her smile a mile wide.
> 
> Inside the huge tent, Ava tore open each box to check it and each of the original four members of Team Lanvers were given one.
> 
> It was clothing. But not just any clothing, but the famous heavy duty canvas Carhartt clothing warmly lined and in all sorts of configurations. Coats and overalls and thick, heavy socks and beanies in a rainbow of colors. At the bottom were caps with earflaps and good, well made gloves crowded in with lightweight scarves and thin under-layers in bright colors that gave away being a different brand before even being touched.
> 
> "I know I sent you off with some proper layers for you idiots," Sara explained, "but my business is survival training and outbacking. You'll need more."
> 
> "And sturdier," Ava chimed in. 
> 
> "Exactly. So, Carhartt is well outside my wheelhouse, but since you've gone all pioneer on us, it seems like the right tool for the job."
> 
> Most of Alex's and all of Brainy's were men's gear in browns and a bit of blue, though they each had a mid-weight coat in an admittedly not horrible pink. Lucy's was a pretty even mix and Kara's box was several shades of pink and even some purple that delighted her.
> 
> "And extras," Ava enthused and opened the last box. "Had to rescue your feet too."
> 
> Alongside heavy, insulated, steel-toed work boots, were lace-less, snug, knee-high ones that would keep out all the wet and came in a variety of colors.
> 
> "They're muck boots meant for working in muddy barns and shit like that."
> 
> Alex looked up from her darkly leather work boots and comically purple muck boots, delighted and a little baffled. "God you idiots, this must have cost a damn fortune."
> 
> "Better than worrying about you," Sara shot back casually. "Even without seeing any of your impending videos, we've been frantic. Besides, like I said, connections to Carhartt and got an obscene deal on them. So give 'em a shout-out, eh?"
> 
> Eagar for their new, warm layers, Team Lanvers scattered to their curtained alcoves that were the temporary bedrooms to strip and change. There was plenty to get Nia warmly dressed as well, though Sara squinted at her ratty old winter boots.
> 
> "You're next," the gregarious blonde promised and shooed everyone back out into the snow. "Now, there's a few more things to take care of before we can properly socialize!"
> 
> "Y'know, when you said you were going to help us out in bringing Brainy's trailer and some supplies, I expected some ugly rental truck," Alex mused as they walked back to the beefy worktruck still tied into the trailer. It had a prominent 'Silverado 3500' emblazoned near the driver's door, promising lots of power, and the rear axle had two tires on each side. Rather than a standard bed like a pickup truck, it had a massive steel box that sat low over the tires and there were two small doors on each side for storage. It was piled high with a lumpy payload protected by plastic tarps and strapped down tight.
> 
> "You like it?" Sara asked casually as she grabbed something else out of the back seat.
> 
> "Sure. What's not to like?"
> 
> "Good, because in a couple days you can drive me and Ava to Salem where we'll get it registered in your name. Happy housewarming gift."
> 
> Even as Team Lanvers gawked, Sara held out a large envelope thick with papers and a set of keys.
> 
> "Trying to find a rental that could get us and that trailer up here in winter was such a pain that we got to thinking," Ava explained gently as she wrapped an arm around Sara's shoulders. "We worry about you, all of you, and hope this will keep you warm, safe and in business."
> 
> "It's a couple years old," Sara added in, her smile soft. "And it has fairly high mileage, but we found a good mechanic to go over it with a fine-tooth comb and it checks out. So, as a bonus, you don't have to worry about getting it filthy."
> 
> For a long moment, Alex couldn't move, too shocked to respond to the magnitude of the gift. It was a big truck, outfitted out for professional work, something a contractor would own for their livelihood. She couldn't even guess what it must have cost.
> 
> "Take the keys, Alex," Sara encouraged softly, her smile pure affection. "You can freak out later, 'kay?"
> 
> "In the meantime! Work!" Ava demanded and immediately took over the whole gang of them. 
> 
> It was time for the wiring project. 
> 
> Inexplicably, serious-corporate-lawyer Ava had extensive experience in running wiring, explaining, "college job." She had already mapped out a detailed grid plan for the team to follow. First though, was the messy job of ripping out every scrap of wire from the old barn, right back to the main box. Luckily, whoever built the barn had included an arm-sized cutoff switch that Ava yanked down before squinting and humming over the empty new box an electrician had already installed. Whatever she saw there seemed to be enough as she turned and viciously attacked the rusty old one. 
> 
> "I keep forgetting your girl is ripped under the corporate drag," Alex admired as Ava tore the emptied metal shell from the barn's studs. Sara just smirked appreciatively.
> 
> Armed with claw hammers, pliers and screwdrivers, the seven of them followed Ava's example and soon the messy pile of old wire was ready to be bagged for recycling. The new and colorful spools of wire and electrical conduit and jumbled junction boxes would wait for the next day.
> 
> While the others bickered over dinner, Kara and Brainy occupied themselves with getting a few homey touches set up in the tent. Half the load on the back of the truck had been that, the rest being a welcome half cord of firewood. Most importantly was the big TV from Alex and Lucy's condo. The crate the tent had come in was a nice height and rigging up some shelves for the entertainment electronics was easy enough and soon they could ignore their foul-mouthed elders with loud video games. 

  
  
I feel like I need to comment, to encourage this delightful bunch of rowdy friends.

I'm no stranger to internet flirting. After all some of mine and Sam's best dates have come from the knack! Still, I can't think of anything more clever than my LL initials and roll my eyes at myself.

"Honestly, what are you, a magazine?" I self-mock and then pause thoughtfully. "Or maybe a favorite movie."

'LL Woods' is better, but feels boring compared to the Oregon group's fun-loving nature. Then it hits me and a startled laugh bursts from deep in my gut. Backspacing to my initials, I add in the sudden inspiration and grin in satisfaction.

'LL Not-your-neck-of-the-Woods'.

Now that's a moniker worthy of Team Lanvers! Now, what to say? Hmmmm…

'I admit that I never understood the appeal of this sort of working class aesthetic'

No, that sounds condescending. Delete.

'I always saw the Carhartt brand as something not necessarily appealing, and certainly never sexy, but on Alex my position has changed significantly.'

Better. Certainly in comparison to the hungry need to start skipping around the videos to find the hot farmer in something like a skimpy tank top. She seems the type. I hope I'm right.

'I never noticed how classic Carhartt brings out those beautiful brown eyes'

Down girl.

A bit embarrassed at my own drooling, I delete again and stare at the blinking cursor in the empty comment box.

'I always saw the Carhartt brand as boring work wear, and certainly not sexy, but I have to admit that on Alex it's…'

Now I'm effectively repeating myself. Okay, one more try.

'My stance on Carhartt being boring work wear has certainly changed. Alex, you in particular wear it well."

Apparently I'm incapable of leaving a message that isn't a bit thirsty, but at least this sounds more like a playful pickup line in a bar. I can live with that.


	3. Yurts n' Coops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At last, the building begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thank you to theillogicalthinker for the old joke of 'Short people are mean because they're closer to hell.'

> **Folder: Never To Be Shown In Public  
>  Created: February 12**
> 
> "I shall now raise the Beast Who Hates Mornings!" Lucy announced dramatically and swept back one of the bed area curtains. Sprawled with catlike abandon as though dropped from a great height, Kara was oblivious to the noise. Gesticulating like a cheesy cartoon villain, Lucy made hocus pocus chanting sounds before pausing to lean over and delicately drop a handful of snow between Kara's clavicles.
> 
> Kara shrieked like a banshee and the camera wobbled dramatically in time to Brainy's grunt as a cackling Lucy nearly mowed him down, Kara flailing after her. With only inches to spare, Lucy made it out the door while Kara pulled up and grumbled at the cold wet streaks on her skin and henley top.
> 
> "As if one big sister weren't bad enough…"
> 
> With everyone awake, breakfast and coffee were distributed and they layered up to brave the winter outside.
> 
> The whole day was going to be hard work in icy conditions, interspersed with a constant stream of sass and friendly insults. Kara knew she was doomed to sigh at the vulgar one-upmanship, while Brainy and Nia, new to the wild pack of mongrels, would be doubtlessly torn between amusement and being scandalized. 
> 
> The core of the chaos was always Alex, Sara and Lucy, but Ava was determined to hold her own. She was a lawyer, dammit, and had a reputation to uphold!
> 
> Collecting tools, including some new supplies brought in on the truck Alex ran a loving hand over, the gang carried and stacked what seemed like miles of lightweight steel conduit.
> 
> "Do we really have to fish all the barn's wire through this?" Lucy complained as they started laying out and cutting the conduit. Ava just poked her in the shoulder with her hammer.
> 
> "This makes your electrical waterproof and is a near-guarantee that no inspector will hassle you. As a bonus, rodents will be less likely to get into your wiring as well."
> 
> That was enough to silence any other objections.
> 
> The gang of them behaved themselves as they were taught tasks by Ava and then left to their own devices. Then it was game on.
> 
> "It sure is a shame none of the Seattle ladies are going to be able to get a piece of that again," was Sara's opening salvo as she gestured expansively at Alex. The familiar smirk quirked over Alex's face and her voice was pure suggestiveness. 
> 
> "This is possibly the gayest town on the west coast, WeHo and Frisco notwithstanding. I'm quite sure I can get myself laid, Lance." 
> 
> Kara made a face that screamed, 'overshare' that set Nia to giggling, which in turn set the others off to gales of laughter.
> 
> As they wound down, Ava said conversationally, "you just wait. If you think there is some admiring going on so far? Pfft. And there are already some impressively thirsty comments popping up on your few videos. Give your channel time to grow and Alex can have her pick." 
> 
> Sara gasped dramatically and fake ranted, "Aves! Don't encourage her! Just look at that smug little face!" 
> 
> "They barely look at the face," Lucy scoffed. "It's the abs and arms." 
> 
> "Lucky them. The little shit didn't look like that when I was with her," Sara snarked and Alex finally jumped in.
> 
> "Duh. I was a scrawny teenager, all sinew and attitude."
> 
> "And that's changed?"
> 
> Alex just stuck her tongue out at her oldest friend and struck a bodybuilder pose. It looked absurd in their heavy winter layers, but it got her the round of laughs she was after.
> 
> For a bit, the gang of them worked in relative peace, until Alex casually dropped, "you should join us."
> 
> Sara didn't even look away from her intent work at a junction box, but she didn't need to. The sarcasm came across quite clearly. "Uh no. In fact, hell no."
> 
> "Awwww, why?"
> 
> Still without turning, Sara snarked, "it's the middle of nowhere, it's full of snow that will soon turn to mud, and how the fuck do you really think you're going to get laid here? Gayest town on the west coast, my ass."
> 
> "Oh, cowgirl up, you wuss!" Lucy chimed in acerbically. "This is Oregon, not the deep south. Don't you know that this fair land is notorious for being seriously wlw?"
> 
> Sara scoffed, but still kept to her work. Alex turned away from her own project to plant hands on hips and stare incredulously. "Sara, are you serious? Have you really never heard of National City? What sort of pussy monster are you anyway?" 
> 
> "The kind that lives in a proper city, you freak!"
> 
> "And is whipped."
> 
> "Fuck off, Danvers. You're just jealous."
> 
> Alex shrugged, but didn't contradict the statement.
> 
> "You're just chafing because you got collared, Lance. What the hell that nice lawyer sees in you is totally beyond me."
> 
> Sara grinned dopily and finally left off her work to distract her lady with kisses for a moment before getting back to what she'd been doing.
> 
> There was a surprisingly long and quiet pause then while the team fished multiple strands of colored wires through the steel conduit and put it in place with brackets and screws. Seams were sealed and then it was off to the next bit.
> 
> "Hey, it's snowing again," Nia suddenly announced and the rest of them immediately set aside what they were doing to cluster to the main door of the barn. Wryly grinning at their 'oooh'ing and 'aahh'ing, she teased, "you really aren't used to this climate, are you? What I meant by that statement was that we should get everything undercover that needs to be."
> 
> Spurred on by the local who knew this area better than they ever would, the gang finished emptying the truck and stashed all of the supplies in barn or tent. That was as good an excuse for lunch as any and they stripped off their heavy layers and took a long break.
> 
> That meant more banter, of course. Alex launched the opening salvo, her grin wicked. "More snow, huh? That stupid all wheel drive of yours will actually get in some hard work instead of just compensating for your insane driving." 
> 
> Lucy was instantly in harangue mode, waving her sandwich in her best friend's face. "Fuck you, Danvers, my gay as fuck Subaru has gotten me laid more times than I can count!"
> 
> "Oh, is that what the dents are?" 
> 
> Abruptly and completely out of left field, Kara broke in with a perfect deadpan. "Naw, those are just her keeping score." 
> 
> "Ahahahaha!" Alex cackled in delight. "Kara got you, Lucifer!"
> 
> "Asshole!"
> 
> Brainy just sighed and finally put the camera away. With the pack of them so wound up and raunchy, he would never be able to use any of the footage anyway. 

It's a busy few days in Los Angeles and I don't get much downtime between Lex's dramas and keeping in touch with my girls. Still, I find quiet corners of my day to squeeze in a few videos here and there. The team helps their friends from Seattle get much of the rewiring done in the barn, their constant sass and banter making me chuckle frequently. Even the beeping out of the cussing becomes part of the act.

The local electrician seems bemused by them, but gets done what they can't and checks over their work. A second, smaller fuse box installed in the shop side of the barn is confusing until Alex gestures at it and simply says, "for the yurt when we can get to it. Later, we'll modify it if we need a smaller barn or shop or something like that."

That makes sense. Brainy is excited to have his trailer back, which makes more sense when he steps inside to reveal, not the bland interior of a late-model travel trailer, but a nerd boy haven of electronics and an elaborate workspace. He gives a quick tour of the gutted and rebuilt space, including the back half that is still mostly bed and bathroom.

Though he's still twitchy with internet withdrawals and it makes me laugh.

The videos are labeled with dates earlier then the days they are released, sometimes by more than a week, discrepancies between the dates as proof of the early days of no internet. By their subscriber count, they've since solved that problem.

Not knowing what to expect from 'Valentines Plan a Task Massacre', I leave it until Jess and I are packed and waiting at the airport. It's a long one, nearly forty minutes, and opens on the gang in their enormous tent. The space looks like a well-supplied outdoor camp incongruously mixed with household furnishings, set out on a plywood floor and surrounded by the white canvas interior of the Army tent. 

I wonder if, months ago when this took place, they found the odd surroundings as disconcerting as we viewers do.

There's even a 'fire pit' in the middle of their ratty old couch and lawn chairs, which I know is a radiant heater, and a ramshackle tabletop is on top of it. Nia is with them, which is always nice, and with a tripod recording the action, Brainy is perched on the couch. Watching he and Nia make shy flirty eyes at each other is as heartwarming as a Disney-Pixar movie.

> **Valentines Plan a Task Massacre. February 13  
>  12840 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres   
> Published on February 20, 2017**
> 
> Toweling off damp hair, Lucy joined the gang in winding down from their day. In defiance of the icy winter on the other side of thick canvas, she was barely covered in scanty shorts, a tanktop that left little to the imagination and a pair of comically ugly shearling boots. Nimble as a cat, she vaulted over the back of the couch and Brainy looked utterly scandalized by her.
> 
> "The porta-potty shower isn't bad. This is the warmest I've been since we walked out of the Avalancecondo."
> 
> Alex threw a ball of wadded paper at her and teased, "not for long dressed like that, you hussy."
> 
> "Uuuugh, I'm so sick of being trussed up like a damn Alaskan wilderness explorer! This fine skin needs to breathe!"
> 
> A melodramatic gesture up and down her admittedly fine physique earned stifled snickering.
> 
> Grinning, Alex tried to paste on a sympathetic expression. "Sorry, Brainy. We should have warned you that Lucy is a champion of the camp, 'I'm home and you're lucky I'm wearing clothes at all'."
> 
> "Captain Overshare," Kara agreed and Lucy spluttered.
> 
> "That's major to you, soldier!"
> 
> That was too much for Alex to resist, snarking, "Major Pain-In-the-Ass, maybe."
> 
> Alex and Lucy glared affectionately for a moment before Lucy became animated again. "Okay, my ragged crew of pirates, what's next on the agenda?"
> 
> "You can't be Army and have a pirate ship," Kara sassed and Lucy pointed at her as though she held an invisible sword.
> 
> "Shut it, or walk the plank! I am tiny and mean and will hack you down, blonde tree! To business!"
> 
> When Kara looked almost offended, Alex just chuckled and patted her leg. "See, I told you. Short people are mean because they're closer to hell." 

With the opening act complete, the scene dissolves from dim tent to true black and then slowly fades to the bright white of a drone shot of their wintry wonderland. From the tent, small figures spill out into the snow and scatter to tasks. Alex's voice says over the scene, "well, right out of the gate, we have got to get that damn yurt up. We'll kill each other packed in too close. No matter the size of this ridiculous Army surplus circus tent, it's gonna get too small and fast."

"It's not exactly glamping," Lucy said wryly and Alex sounds amused when she replies.

"Better than freezing our - _beep_ \- off though."

I actually like these segments of the team's disembodied voices interspersed over and around bits of video. It's interesting to see the thoughts and action taking place in the same space. Though, unsurprisingly, they wander off subject fairly quickly.

The action is kicked off with the tractor moving at comically high speeds to shove a large circle clear of snow behind the barn. Thankfully the camera drone is clearly in hover mode as there's very little wobble in the recording. At the speed the video is at, it could make a viewer seasick! 

Fast as an artist with toothpicks and superglue, concrete footings are set out and the support structure appears. Thick panels that look like boards with styrofoam sandwiched between them are laid out and cut into a perfect circle smaller than the underlying superstructure. With a blink of night, the hyper-fast team is scuttling about once more, the bundle of sticks they picked up from the yurt manufacturer unfolding into long sections like a portable fence that ring the platform. Doorways are set, the fences attached to them to make an open wall that anchor rafters that radiate up to a central ring some three feet across. Soon, there is the bones of a yurt standing, heavy cloth then a skin of shimmering silver girdles the bones, then a layer of heavy material in a terracotta red, complimented by a pale gray roof that reflects just enough light to indicate that it is some sort of rubbery material. Someone pops up in the open hole at the peak of the roof with a rope and hauls the transparent dome into place while others of the team set to work on a deck around the base of the yurt to complete the circle.

Even this high-speed chase of a video leaves me impressed. Who knew a yurt could be so interesting?

All the while, the team has been chatting back in their makeshift living room, behind the scenes.

"Y'know, Kara, you haven't really said what sort of living area appeals to you."

She sounds a little startled at Lucy's calm question. "Well… I… Yes, I should do that. Something small and cozy would be nice. Like those tiny houses that are so popular."

"Oh that sounds lovely," Nia adds in dreamily.

"We can do that. Maybe a couple shed kits we can finish out to be lived in?"

Voice clearly startled at being included in Alex's statement, Nia says, "a couple of them?"

"Well sure, Nia. You're family now and we'd love for you to stay if you like."

I really wish I could see the look on Nia's face as she half-sobs a 'thank you'. Then again, I also appreciate that the gang left her some privacy in a vulnerable moment.

Leave it to kind-hearted Kara to cover for her, piping up in a little sister wheedling tone. "Could I finally have some birds, Alex? Like special birds, in an aviary?"

Alex's voice is pure fondness and I'll bet the shuffling noises are a big hug. "You've been talking about that since you were about three years old. This is home now and we can do whatever we want! Including building you a dream aviary. Or maybe a chicken coop to start with."

Kara's sound of glee becomes a whine of protest. "Aww! Everyone has chickens!"

"Exactly! So there's tons of caretaker info out there and later we can build up to something just for fun like, I dunno, finches and stuff?"

"Keeping the coyotes off 'em will be a nightmare," Lucy mused.

"And the hawks," Brainy adds helpfully and I can clearly visualize the sister's glares.

"Fresh food would be good for them. And they'd get our scraps."

"And they provide fertilizer!"

While Kara and Lucy laugh, Alex turns thoughtful. "What if we combined a greenhouse and chicken coop? I guess we'd have to do something stronger than those plastic tunnel thingies we see all over. I'm pretty sure the wire crosshatch stuff like in rabbit hutches would work."

"Hardware cloth," Kara supplies helpfully. "I've been reading. What about those polycarbonate panels for roofing? They come in clear and even smoky ones like sunglasses."

Lucy is clearly getting sucked in whether she likes it or not. "Yeah, that should work. A wooden frame tall enough to work in, an enclosed coop at one end. Poly panels for the roof and hardware cloth walls. It'll need some sort of ventilation at the ridgeline for hot days."

"If we build two greenhouses, on either side, we can rotate food and chickens. Add the second one on later when we have the money."

"Done! If the chickens live there year round, we'll need to enclose them in winter. Something that can be reused but tucked away."

"Storm windows?" Brainy suggests questioningly and Lucy crows in delight.

"Storm windows! Perfect! Just some wooden frames and heavy plastic like the tunnel greenhouses, with some way to lock them in place and that will be fine. We're in the mountains, sure, but we're not like, I dunno, Minnesota."

"And I want bees," Kara tacks on in a mulish voice.

"Say what?" it might be the most baffled that I've heard Alex yet, and I've watched quite a few of these videos now. It's adorable.

"Beehives. With bees. Who will pollinate our food and make us honey."

"Uh… well I can't argue with that. Are you sure?"

"Very."

"Okay, that's good enough for me. I'll help. After all, if we get honey out of it."

"You're my favorite sister, Alex!"

The hyper-accelerated speed of the video action slows suddenly, the drone dropping out of a sunset-saturated sky to where the team are high-fiving one another and tromping off to the tent. The drone makes a slow, careful pan around the yurt with its pleasant conical shape and sturdy deck.

It looks impossibly inviting.

These moments of overpowering empathy are so… strange. I have no desire to do something so insane as what they're doing! Yet… I cannot resist eyeing the suggested link as the video winds down to the sound of Alex's smooth voice.

"I have to say that I'm excited to have my own space again, even as it's going to need weeks of work. That said, we're taking a couple of days off to recoup, finally get into town and meet the locals, find a little wood-burning stove, get the sheds and some baby chickens ordered, that sort of thing. Thanks for watching and have a good one. We're out."

The next suggested video is a break from their winter adventures, a green patch of thumbnail entitled ''The Coop de Grace. April 25 through 27.' Cute. 

We open to a gloriously bright sunny day, even as snow still lurks in icy piles and in the shadows of the trees. I avidly drink in the scene of erupting spring, the red barn and sandy-tan tent off in the near distance. The camera does a slow pan, intriguing me with a glimpse of a cluster of smaller buildings and what looks like hundreds of square feet of deck that my chronological jump has skipped over.

There's a split in the gravel road, one leg sweeping out to camera right where the team is busy as an anthill around a pile of wood and wire and roof panels. If I'm lucky…

The deities that watch over those that love women have smiled upon me, because Alex --and Lucy too-- are dressed like it's summer.

Oh yummy!

Just like the first time I laid eyes on this hottie, I'm fascinated with Alex. This is a reminder of that sexy tableau in the barn from that first video I watched. There has been a lot of videos since then and, having gotten used to the heavy winter gear, watching those broad shoulders and strong arms flex as she helps unload the pickup is delicious. The white ribbed tank top is nearly transparent with sweat and there are beads of it along her strong neck.

I fully own that I love to admire a well-built woman, particularly if she's got a solid dose of butch energy. My little femme heart is all a-flutter in girlish delight at those muscled shoulders tapering to a trim waist and the sinful things the right pair of cargo jeans can do for a nice ass. 

To my relief and disappointment, the camera shifts.

"Stuff," Lucy says gruffly and gestures broadly to the piles before ignoring the camera. That leaves Alex at the edge of the frame to half-turn and smirk. In delicious, feminine contrast to those shoulders --and really, I'm about to squeal and annoy Jess-- are perky tits beneath stretchy cotton and a belly so flat I can't stop myself from pausing to see if I can catch a glimpse of the sculpted abs I just know are beneath that tight shirt. Really, this crush is getting out of hand…

Still, I don't hesitate to hit play again.

"So, back on V-Day, me and the gang talked about chickens. Well, we've settled on a plan, gotten the supplies we need and this unseasonably gorgeous weather is supposed to hold for a couple of days. So let's get started!"

Mostly in voiceovers --and, god, it's so delightfully unfair that she has a sexy voice too-- Alex explains what's going on as the playback speed goes from real-world to NASCAR and back and forth. The others interject here and there, but it's mostly Alex talking.

Holes are dug and posts set in dry concrete, water following it down, until four of them make a square some ten feet in diameter. Then they shift gears while that sets. Steel poles are pounded into the ground and a jumble of curved poles becomes sweeping arches standing on stumpy legs. By the third arch, I think I know what they're doing, but I keep getting distracted by the attractive narrator!

Sure enough, with ten arches up, the gang pulls a comically huge sheet of semi-translucent plastic over them and lashes it down between board battens atop the stumpy legs. The trailing ends are wrapped around more poles so the weight holds them to the ground.

A blink and there are two of them in a long tunnel with the posts between. For the now-hard concrete, Alex, Lucy and Nia cut wood and hammer nails and set screws. In short order, there is a shed-like building with nesting boxes and poles to perch on and sturdy doors that close snugly against hungry predators. As with everything I've watched on this addictive channel, the whole thing is strangely fascinating on a visceral level, mixed in with the humor and raw attractiveness of this group of friends.

> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
> I was always curious what those plastic tunnels were. Thank you for showing us! And thank you for the voiceover work, Alex. Your voice is very easy on the ears! 

Committed now to the seven videos in the 'Playing Chicken' playlist --none of them shorter than eighteen minutes-- I settle in to stay up later than I should… and can't find an ounce of regret for it.


	4. Test Your Bones

After another couple of long days, I have the mess in Los Angeles straightened out and I'm almost looking forward to getting on a damn plane if it means getting home. Jess is her usual magnificent self and has wrangled a couple red-eye tickets back to New York that will get us home around midnight. That's fine with me; maybe I'll actually sleep some of the trip.

I've been too tired and cranky to indulge in my new obsession, but now I'm shedding the stress of this damn trip. Once settled on the plane, I use the anticipation of more video entertainment to get me through the stress of takeoff. When we're free to do as we please, I get connected and go to click on the next video, chuckling as I see the title, 'The Four-Footed Aliens'.

This ought to be good.

"An early morning phone call from Lucy has the rest of us awake quite early to see what manner of unexpectedness she has brought to us this time," Brainy says dryly as the video is a wobbly mess through the tent and out into a very black morning.

The headlights of what turns out to be the big worktruck instead of Lucy's Subaru approach. Engine rumbling, the truck rolls into the barn's exterior lights to show that it is towing a battered stock trailer. Sheepishly, Lucy explains that she did something impulsive even as something large and bleating kicks from inside of the trailer.

Alex's $%&U#! expression is priceless.

Whatever is in the trailer has the team flinching away as though they are being shot at, and there is a lot of bleeping out. Lucy is rambling on that she had to save them and made the owner give her a mess of cattle panels --which turn out to be both heavy, gate-like fence pieces made of tube steel, and sturdy wire grids-- steel fence posts and a truckload of hay.

The action speeds up to show them reinforce and extend an existing pen between the barn and tent while I wait breathlessly to see just what's in the damn trailer! Finally they're ready and wiggle the trailer around to get it up against the makeshift gate that lies open in preparation. The back door yawns wide and the dingy morning sunlight reveals a crowd of gangly creatures with comically thick pelts of black, white and many shades of brown. They're the size of large dogs with ridiculously long necks and legs, one of them easily twice the size of the others. 

Even as Alex's cussing is bleeped out as she approaches the nervous animals, I realize what they are. A herd of alpaca and one big, pissed off llama.

What on earth has Lucy done?

The llama's spitting is too fast to see clearly, but there is no mistaking Alex's flinching. I shudder in mute sympathy. Yuck! It takes some effort and turning her head away several times, but Alex finally gets a hand on the llama's halter and stares it down.

"Come on now," Alex coaxes, gentle but firm. "It's safe."

Kara peeks around the doorway and the camera doesn't catch her expression, but the llama's ears go from wary to interested as it steps over. Without missing a beat, Alex hands the animal off for Kara to help it step down to the snowy ground before turning back to warily, but gently, shoo the smaller alpaca out. 

In a rush of furry bodies, the pen is crowded with the ungulates, skittish and milling about the strange space. The humans stay very quiet until they settle a bit and Lucy opens the barn door and steps away from it. Apparently, alpaca and llamas are impervious to cold, because none of them step inside, but with those great woolly coats, I suppose that makes sense. Aren't they from the Andes or something?

"Figures the jerkbutt llama loves you," Alex complains mildly as Kara timidly loves on her new friend. Then she shakes herself out and makes a disgusted face. "Ugh, I need to shower about five times. She got me good." 

It takes real effort to not giggle over Alex's expression, and a few stifled noises of amusement escape me anyway. Jess looks bemused and soft over my enjoyment. That doesn't surprise me, as I'm not generally the giggly sort.

After a wary moment, Alex asks almost reluctantly, "they are 'hers' right, Lucy? Because most male animals, at least with hooves, are _beep_."

"Yes, all hers. I asked. Had to leave some boys behind, but I could only do so much. Sorry to spring this on you."

Alex leaves off her glaring down at the dark marks speckled over her clothes that must smell terrible by her pinched-face expression. Her face softens and Lucy visibly relaxes.

"No, we're good. If they needed rescuing, I'm all in. Though I'm punishing you with taking my laundry into town. Tonight. Yuck." There's a wisp of smirk under the grouch when she looks back up again, looking insufferably kissable in that moment. "So what the _beep_ are we going to do with all of them?"

Kara's wild giggle brings the camera over to show how sleep-tousled and gleeful she is. "My sister, grumpy cat."

The llama just nibbles on the loose flaps of Alex's flannel shirt while I giggle, feeling like I am there with them.

> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
> The sisters are a delight! And, Alex, your patience with the llama is admirable. I hope you got your shower. :) 
> 
> **A Work Montage. Beginning February 20th and time marching on…  
>  12560 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres   
> Published on March 8, 2017**
> 
> The alpaca and Jerkbutt settled down quickly and seemed as curious about their new people as Team Lanvers was about them. Then came the veterinarian. They weren't real happy about her, but there was no avoiding getting poked and prodded and dewormed and having their overgrown toenails trimmed back. 
> 
> Lucy choked a bit at the bill, but there was nothing for it but to hand over a credit card. Good thing she drew a pension…
> 
> The herd was also in desperate need of a shearing to get their filthy coats off, but that would have to wait until spring. Cold hardy they might be, but much of that was their fleece coats, no matter in how poor of condition.
> 
> Sturdier fences went up and electric wires were strung tight around the outside to give any hungry predator a nasty shock. Only then could they finally get back to the empty yurt. With the worksite less than twenty feet from the paddock, the alpaca were both curious and faintly alarmed at the noise and chaos, humming and burbling their annoyance. Jerkbutt, of course, was the loudest, pacing the fence and haranguing the team. But there was no more spitting, so they carried on.
> 
> Bit by bit, an asymmetrical box taking up at least a quarter of the interior space was built. It was a rudimentary kitchen back to back with a toilet and shower tucked inside the box and a queen bed atop. After the sheer annoyance of wrestling the bulk of the mattress up, the drawers built into the steep, narrow steps were the hardest part of the build and they all gave Alex a wide berth for a few days while she learned on the fly.
> 
> At least as much of her churlish temper was that the makeshift shop in the barn was freezing and ill-prepared for the magnitude of their task. Kara picked up on her misery and corralled the others into helping her ghetto-wrap the shop with plastic and staple guns, before cobbling together some sturdy tables built from the piles of scrap. Luckily, Nia was able to find an antique kitchen range that looked like little more than a rusty sculpture to a bygone age. But it still burned wood, taking the teeth out of the bitter cold, and its flat top made an excellent place to heat coffee mugs and bowls of soup. 
> 
> Things smoothed out significantly after that and the team was able to finalize their layouts and take another big drain from the funds to get construction supplies ordered and on their way. But for all the pain of watching so many zeroes vanish, they knew it meant more warmth, safety and privacy for the team.
> 
> All of which were important. 

I can't find anything clever to comment on about this video and something like, 'I'll keep you warm,' is a bit suggestive, even for me. So, best to shake it off and just move on.

The next playlist is called, 'The march of March', and is only 4 videos long. Well, this is different…

> **The Revenge Of: A Work Montage. Week 1  
>  17900 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres   
> Published on March 15, 2017**
> 
> Almost two weeks after the ragtag herd joined Rainbow Haven, spring was hinting around the edges of the farm and forest. 
> 
> Brainy was beside himself with glee, as much as Brainy ever was, when a small team with thankfully excellent four-wheel drive arrived to put in sturdy concrete footings and left them to cure. That was only the first step to getting them back on the information superhighway, and while none of them were quite at the withdrawal levels on their token male, everyone was looking forward to not feeling quite so isolated.
> 
> Work continued on the yurt and much fine-tuning was done to the huge tent and the drafty old barn. Quickly, the alpaca and Jerkbutt were used to their busy humans and their strange tasks. It was as though the ungulates had always been there, the big mass of them providing companionship and entertainment to their new humans.
> 
> Their calm was a welcome thing when, on the second day of March, a huge truck and trailer just shy of a tractor-trailer showed up, laden with plastic wrapped freight of masses of shaped wood. With little preamble, the fancy tilt trailer slid the pallets onto the packed snow beside the roadway, got a signature and was off.
> 
> "Guess I know what will be keeping us occupied now," Lucy teased and the gang set about turning the pallets of raw kit into livable spaces.
> 
> Lucy cracked up when a second truck showed up with yet more pallets and the sisters only stared in confusion. When they saw the directions for what it was, she laughed even harder.
> 
> "Lane, you absolute maniac, why did you buy a wild west style saloon?" Alex squawked and flapped the packet of papers from the manufacturer at her.
> 
> "To see that exact look on your face, obviously." Full of pure mischief, Lucy poked the paper packet of directions in Alex's hands. "Kara mentioned that we needed an office, and she's right. Turns out this thing was a rejected customer order that they gave me a ridiculous deal on. Besides, it's whimsical."
> 
> It took a little effort, but the little John Deere dragged each of the kit pallets closer to the end destination of the product. That left them tucked up against the edge of the forest and the big hill that separated them from the seasonal stream that was little more than a snowy rut amidst the trees right now.
> 
> Luckily, just a couple days later, the construction supplies came in aboard a flatbed truck that growled through the softening road and chewed up the gravel and slush beneath it. The forklift attached to its rear bumper for offloading did even more damage, lurching about the warming ground beside the old road.
> 
> The spring melt followed by a drying out couldn't happen fast enough. 
> 
> March seventh marked a month at the farm, and a new milestone. The fixed wireless internet team returned with a load of spindly-looking metal struts and spools of wire. By the end of the day, it was a slender tower more than thirty feet high, long wires pulled tight from the top to heavy anchors in the earth.
> 
> After evening chores, the team gathered in the tent where Brainy had been muttering and tinkering over boxes of gear taken from his trailer for half the day. No one got on him for bailing on evening chores. What he was doing was a necessity of a different sort.
> 
> They celebrated with a Skype call to the final member of their team, Winn delighted to see them. "Welcome back to the modern world," he crowed. "How's it feel?"
> 
> The others laughed when Kara said, "tiring. Because I know Brainy won't be sleeping tonight."
> 
> "Can't blame him there. Now see, I told you fixed wireless internet was the way to go!"
> 
> "Yes, yes, we know," Alex teased dryly. "You were right." She grinned at the camera Lucy held and shrugged. "This is the boy's thing, not ours. Luckily, the bar owner in town already has a good-sized tower to catch the signals from the valley and we can use their signal to bounce up to us. Down the line, maybe we'll get a community drive for a big upgrade or something."
> 
> "Building community!" Lucy crowed cheerfully. "That'll get ya laid!"

Even in the terrible conditions, deliveries somehow still make it to the farm. The porta-potties have to be maintenanced every couple of weeks, literal tons of building supplies are trucked in and Alex seems to be making near-daily trips into town for food and things delivered to the post office for them. Some of which must be annoying to the general store owner, because they're huge!

From the truckload of lumber and sacks of cement, a grid begins to emerge. Lucy tells the camera its thirty by thirty-five feet and will enclose three sides of the sheds that will be Kara and Nia's homes.

"The deck gets everything off the ground," she rambled on, gesturing at the worksite. "So it will be easier to plumb from underneath and run wires and _beep_ , even though the floor will have to be as heavily insulated as the roof and walls. Later, we can expand the deck as we grow. Oh, and single holes for pier-type footings are possible in this slop where pouring concrete would not, so there's that. When everything dries out, we'll pour a slab for the saloon and get it built then."

Just as Lucy described, that is what the team does. Holes are dug with a worm screw machine powered by the rear end of the tractor, cement poured in from a portable drum, brackets set gently atop it. Once dry, wood footings are bolted into the brackets and heavy crossbeams follow to keep the uprights rigid. Deck boards that don't quite look like wood make a floor, two large holes left as the group makes their way to the back. Short stairs are added and then the shed kits are dragged over for assembly.

And so the playlist of their days go as I watch the hyper-accelerated footage of framework and siding and insulation and roof and windows and doors put in place. There are no real breaks in the action, and the filming is all done from static mounts or the hovering drone. It's all hands on deck, ranging from building to building as they grow.

There are periodic pauses in the action for a bit of explanation when they think something is interesting, but there is a notable lack of… lightness to them. They still work hard, sun up to sun down, but it's glaringly obvious that the team is exhausted. In fact, there's a notable lack of interactions with the camera. The majority of the time, Brainy is right in with his friends, pitching in. Good boy.

Even just observing through the lens of time and distance, I can see how worn down they are, how the fluctuating weather conditions and hard work has pushed their limits.

Right at the end, it comes to a head when the truck returns one afternoon, the back large and lumpy under the protective tarp. The misery on Kara's face hits like a blow as she climbs out, looking around somewhat frantically.

Alex's welcoming smile falls and she meets her sister halfway for a crushing hug.

"Hey, hey, I've got you," Alex croons gently, voice barely picked up by the camera close by. "What happened?"

Lucy appears and her face is a novel of wrath. "Remind me to never make country hick jokes again, huh?"

Alex frees an arm to reach for Lucy, but only gets her fingers squeezed as Lucy grumbles about needing to hit something with a hammer and stalks off.

"You seem a little miserable here," Alex says with a gentleness borne of real love and Kara sniffles loudly where she has her face hidden in her sister's neck. "You could go home you know. No one will think less of you."

The change is instant, Kara's head shooting up, fire in those wet blue eyes. "No! I want this adventure with you! Just lemme sulk for a little bit and I'll be fine."

With a smile that could bring spring on early, Alex presses Kara back into the hug.

"Sulk for as long as you need."

Watching the sisters hug like they've been separated for a lifetime makes me miss my family; even my stupid brother. Jess stiffens for a brief moment when I rest my head on her shoulder and sigh heavily. Then she merely strokes my head once and goes back to the movie on her computer while I rest my eyes. It's a relief that we're almost home.

Somehow, impossibly, I doze off and remain asleep until the plane bumps down to solid ground. Startled, I jerk awake, steadied by Jess' hand on my arm. Then it's taxing into the plane's slip, the crush of disembarking, arranging to have our luggage collected and delivered to the building and getting the hell out of the airport.

Thankfully, Sam intuitively always seems to know when I'm feeling vulnerable and has schlepped all the way out to the airport. I fall into her hug with abandon, soaking up the familiarity of her, the haven she has always been.

"Welcome home."

"Missed you."

I'm too weary to give a damn about riding in a filthy cab and curl up sideways on the seat so that I can hog the entirety of Sam's lean torso for comfort.

"You ditched out of work," I find myself mumbling bluntly and the soft pets over my head only pause a moment.

"Of course I did. You're home."

It's times like this that I know it's love.

\----

Bleary with sleep and reluctant to leave the warmth of the bed, I can't stop the little smile from Sam's lips on my forehead and the click of ceramic on wood that comes with the scent of coffee. Eventually it gets me up, because she always leaves it just a little bit out of my reach. Thusly fortified, I ignore my grumbling stomach in order to get in a good, hot shower built to my exacting needs and climb into soft, comforting clothes.

Heading out into the living areas of the apartment, I can hear my Ariases talking and, sure enough, find Sam perched at the table with her phone.

"Gross!" Ruby laughs over the video call as I smooch Sam's head. "Glad you made it home safe, Mama. How was Los Angeles?"

"Drier," I sass and enjoy her laughter as I head for the fridge and sustenance. Fresh fruit and cheese sounds perfect and I collect and chop a bit more than I'll eat because Sam is a notorious browser.

"So, Jess tells me you've been mainlining the hot farmer on YouTube?"

Sam's sly comment makes me pause over a lovely goat cheese and celery spear I've just taken a bite of. For possibly the first time in my admittedly cushy life… I find myself wondering where the food came from. It's something that has never bluntly occurred to me before Rainbow Haven Acres. A blandly dirty look gets me Sam's most innocent look, hands spread.

"She thinks it's cute, and gets the appeal of the older sister. How did she put it? 'I'm straight, not blind'?"

I scoff even as I blush a bit. Someone without Jess' trust would never suspect how funny she can be.

Sam's smile is a warm, welcoming thing and I drift over, unsurprised to find the still-active video link showing Ruby's empty dorm room. Doubtlessly she would have joined in on the teasing had she been near the speakers.

Long arms draw me into a hug and Sam's teasing voice is a caress. "It's addictive, right?"

"Yes," I mutter at her wit and she gentles even more.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting to like it either. Well, the hot older sister is clearly a delicious hunk of catnip cupcake, especially after she muscles up. Yum! But ending up fascinated by the actual farm parts?"

Reassured it definitely isn't just me, I brighten. "Exactly! It's not right to tempt a couple of hardcore city girls with something as weird as, I don't know, feeding a llama! And she is cute. And has nice eyes."

Sam's laughter is always a bright, precious thing, and it rings through the apartment. When she turns sly again, this time there's a wonderful lightness to the gleam in her eye. But she doesn't get a chance to deliver her witticism. 

"Did you make it to the dinosaur?" Ruby's voice suddenly bellows from somewhere a short distance from her phone. That catches my attention and Sam's grin is like sunshine.

"I… have not," is all I can think to say and with all the trepidation a question like that deserves. "And now I wonder if I should be nervous."

"Oh my god, Mom, don't you dare let her watch those without me and Lils!" Ruby squeals as she throws herself back in front of her camera. "You promise!"

Startled at how vehement she is, I don't even protest. "I promise. I'll save the… uh, dinosaur until the weekend."

"Yes!"

When I look curiously at Sam, she just shrugs and smiles fondly.

Because I thought everyone needed to see the picture where I got the idea for the herd from! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So llamas. Yeah. Just in case you've never been near one, they are HUGE and everything you've heard about how nasty the spitting is? Truth. Guess how I know...
> 
> While this project is far crackier than I had intended, there was originally no plot save, OOOH A FARM! Kara was originally just going to stay for a few weeks or months to document the progress, but ends up staying for good, because the chaos is pure GOLD.
> 
> Shatterpath: One of Kara's most popular vids is the day Lucy pulls up with a herd of... ready for it?  
> rainbowriddler: I'm ready  
> Shatterpath: ALPACA  
> rainbowriddler: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!  
> Shatterpath: there's no fences, the barn is a mess and Alex is just like !!!!!!!!@!!!!!!QEWFZDSGZDFHGAIHF  
> rainbowriddler: Alex standing around and the jerkbutt alpaca comes and starts chewing on the flappies of her flannel  
> Shatterpath: and I think we added a guard llama who's every bit as grumpy and spitty as the clichés say. It also is madly in love with Kara. because exasperated Alex is hilarious.


	5. Growing Pains

I need to go debrief with Lex about the LA trip, but he can wait one damn day while I rest and reacclimatize to the humidity.

Or he could call and wheedle me into inviting him over for a semi-working dinner. Since that means he has to hike halfway across the city and I don't, I let him win this round. A flurry of text messages with Jess gives her the day off if she'll be on the hook for the few hours or less that Lex will be here. Frankly, I need her memory for the boring minutiae. Ask me to cure cancer --and I need to get back to that project someday-- and I can make a dent. Ask me about the finicky details of endless meetings? That's where Jess' brilliant abilities save my ass.

So that leaves me with a day off and Sam's enigmatic smile that has me dragging her off to the bedroom for a romp and a nap. Due to the nature of our shared business, we're more nocturnal, and I look forward to getting back on schedule. It makes weekends with the girls home a bit of a challenge, but we've managed for years now.

Relaxed and soothed by my lover's touch, I wallow in the bed against the lanky warmth of her for some time. We're an odd pair, Sam and I. It's love, but never said, we're dedicated to one another and our daughters, but still randomly seduce other women. Admittedly, the vast majority of the time, it's a pleasurable tag team that gets rid of the itch for something new, and we remain side by side. We're best friends and business partners with skills like water that flows to fill the cracks of weakness in one another.

Yet… I have never shaken that feeling that Sam still shies away from being anchored down, no matter that she would never go. It's a direct result of a cold mother and being thrown out, sixteen and pregnant, to fend for herself. There are things I know about my Sam she has never shared with anyone else, things that make me ache for her, and I can see the dark corners she will most likely never give voice to.

At least those shadows are far from her now, boneless and sound asleep in our familiar bed. Kissing her forehead, I squirm away and resist the small noise of want she makes and curls around my pillow. Seductive thing!

Cleaning up and dressing casually, I slip out of the bedroom and sit down with my carry-on bag and phone to get myself sorted out. It doesn't take long --after all, I have the world's best assistant-- and I find myself with some time to kill.

Somewhat guiltily, my eye immediately strays to the little icon for my internet browser.

I know I promised Ruby that I'd wait for whatever this 'dinosaur' nonsense is, but when exactly did it take place? That's as good an excuse as I'm going to get and sends me scrambling for my new obsession. Scrolling over the rows of playlists, I see that there is indeed one marked, 'I Think We Have Dinosaurs'. Well, at least they weren't messing with me, the adorable brats. Luckily for me, there are still videos before that.

Should I do it?

Can I resist?

Watch a half dozen of the videos for Rainbow Haven Acres and one thing becomes crystal clear. Alex is tough as nails, but has the heart of a Disney paladin. 

It shows in how she both encourages and coddles Kara, in how she clocks the often volatile Lucy's moods, adopts shy Nia as her new little sister, and banters with the introverted Brainy. She works like a draft horse with no complaint, picks up skills as fast as she can switch out tools for a task and somehow still looks sexy even when filthy and exhausted.

You show me any woman who is attracted to other women in whole or in part, and I'll bet my family empire that 99% find that combination of tough and sweet a panty-dropper. That crooked smile and the brown eyes that look like they could grow your soul in that dark loamy color and, yeah, it's probably a good thing she's a continent away.

Really, this silly internet crush is getting out of control…

But I click on the next video anyway.

> **Lucy strikes again… and we suffer some growing pains. April 2.  
>  12949 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres   
> Published on April 8, 2017**
> 
> After an exhausting April Fool's Day where Lucy had gotten on Alex's last nerve, she was hardly surprised how tentatively Brainy stuck his head into her makeshift shop.
> 
> "Umm, Alex?"
> 
> Despite his being a bit of an oddball, Alex liked the lad well enough and gentled her natural intensity as she turned to smile faintly. "Yeah?"
> 
> "Ummm, I have received a phone call from Lucy. She's insistent that we bring the truck and trailer to an address provided. She was very excited about it."
> 
> Torn between curiosity and wanting to throw a circular saw in frustration, Alex rubbed at the bridge of her nose for a moment. For all of her best friend's foibles, she was careful in her demands. So Alex breathed deep and set aside her tools.
> 
> "Lead the way."
> 
> Warmly dressed and ready for anything, the four of them gathered their things and piled into the king cab. Driving the big workhorse of a truck had not at all lost its appeal and Alex always thrilled at having control over such a powerful machine. The address provided was only about five miles away, but it was a winding route past town and to the next valley over. Winter's grip was tighter where there were no strong updrafts from the plains below to mitigate the cold just a bit. Luckily for Alex's nerves, their destination was close by, a large cleared area speckled with farm infrastructure far more industrial than their homestead.
> 
> "Okay, Lane, what have you done now?"
> 
> As though conjured by Alex's mutter, Lucy trotted out of a dumpy little office trailer and waved them over. A heavily bundled-up figure stuck his head out of the trailer, shook it, and vanished inside again. Lucy was literally bouncing with nervous energy, barely waiting for the others to pile out of the truck before she was babbling away.
> 
> "This is a defunct farming venture I found out about and rushed over here. Luckily, I caught the bank officer in charge of the repossession and made him an offer. Behold our new tractor!"
> 
> It was a bigger, beefier version of the unit they had already, only bright red-orange and marked 'Kubota' instead of 'John Deere'. Alex raised a brow and the younger three were stereo confusion. It deflated Lucy just a bit, but she shook it off.
> 
> "Look, this model of tractor runs forty K brand new, and this thing is in near-new condition. I offered the guy full price for it in exchange for permission to ransack the property for whatever is left. And for us? There's plenty. There's three wooden buildings and a couple of sheds in decent shape I want to strip to their foundations, and enough chicken gear to satisfy any scale operation we'll ever want to aim for. There's also quite a lot of cattle panels and that sort of shit that could be valuable if we can get to it. And!"
> 
> Moving to the side, Lucy gestured grandly to a quartet of large hoop houses, industrial plastic stretched taut over curved metal supports to create warm environments in a cold land.
> 
> "Your greenhouses slash coops. The bank repossesses the land on the nineteenth, which leaves us sixteen days to make my money count."
> 
> "Forty K," Alex deadpanned. "You must be about tapped out, huh?"
> 
> Sheepish and nervous, Lucy yanked off her beanie to ruffle her shaggy hair before pulling it back on. "Yeah, I am officially broke. Sorry. I don't mean to make things hard or weird, but it was a deal I couldn't pass up."
> 
> The younger three remained quiet as mice as Alex looked over the mentioned buildings and hoop houses and the big orange tractor. It was quite a haul, even if they were going to have to start leaning more heavily on her own savings now.
> 
> "Too bad this didn't come along before the sheds and saloon, eh?"
> 
> Relieved to not get yelled at, Lucy relaxed with a shuddering breath and nodded. She didn't resist being pulled into a big bear hug that Kara, Nia and Brainy dogpiled onto.
> 
> "You still network like a lawyer," Alex teased fondly.
> 
> "What can I say, old habits die hard."
> 
> "Still, for fuck sake, Luce, no more surprises. You've clearly set us up for life here."
> 
> "Deal."
> 
> The flatbed trailer that came with the tractor was far too big and heavy for Lucy's SUV, so they swapped out trailers. There wasn't a lot of wiggle room as the trailer was dangerously heavy with the big tractor and a whole mess of large attachments that included a scoop excavator, snowblower, plow, grapple and the same sort of tow mower the John Deere had. It still wasn't enough weight to faze the 3500, though Alex was careful to not wander from clearly designated driving areas. Getting unstuck would be nearly impossible with the heavily laden trailer behind. The truck flatbed and the small trailer left plenty of room and the two vehicles caravanned around to fill up with whatever loose stuff they could find.
> 
> And there was plenty of it: piles of fencing, buckets, pipe, racks of filthy but perfectly serviceable nest boxes, sheets of corrugated metal, and all manner of lumber. Strapping it all down beneath tarps, the gang headed home to haphazardly unload the whole mess around the tent and behind the barn. Then they gathered proper gear and headed back to get some real work done. 

  
  
These people are nuts, I swear. Still, my fascination doesn't wane. Back at the defunct farm, they enter a large, low shed-barn-thingie with a steel skeleton like geometric ribs and a steel skin that needs a bath and some new paint, the hinges of the door squealing dryly. There's no missing how the women wince and wrinkle their noses up, though the only comment is Nia's very calm, "yikes."

Yikes is right. Things rustle and skitter away in the deep, disgusting mess of old straw, feathers and manure that looks to be knee-deep. 

"Well, the bones seem sound, the siding in particular." Nia adds and fearlessly stomps into the mess while Brainy's camera tracks her. She looks at Lucy, her expression thoughtful. "You did say stripped to their foundations, right? I'd say you've gotten your money's worth in this building alone. It would have cost around forty grand even used, at least. Unless the footings are rusted out, everything else should be a doable fix, though it's going to be a ton of disgusting, backbreaking work." A brilliant grin breaks over the girl's face. "Life sure isn't boring with you guys. We'd better get goggles and good respirators for this one."

There is a relieved murmur of agreement and they move on to the next building, dented and filthy with dirt and what looks like oil. There are metal and wood racks everywhere, scattered machine parts and stained cardboard boxes here and there. This time it's Alex that looks around and her expression is the same as Nia's had been, seeing something that the others do not. And that includes me. 

"Hey, Brainy? Didn't you say that the saloon was going to be too small a space to be truly useful?"

"I did. Adequate enough for perhaps an office or a single workspace, but no more."

"What if we combined this with it? Y'know, squish them close, chop out an adjoining door and really get a good space going."

I can visualize the lad's blink as the camera wobbles in his looking around. Sure enough, the point of view changes to what is Kara's phone by everyone's position and Brainy is indeed taking careful note of their surroundings. The shop, barn, shed, whatever it is, looks to be some twentyish feet wide and half again that deep, a set of garage doors at the far end and a set of dangerously open stairs leading to a second floor. I can see that it would provide quite a lot of workspace and Brainy smiles faintly. 

"I believe that would be most adequate, yes."

It's a sweet ending and I immediately tap on part two. Kara narrates over pieced-together footage from handheld and drone cameras of the team busily tearing down various buildings and fences.

"So, as you saw in the last video, we have our work cut out for us. There isn't a lot that got recorded because we were so busy, but we got enough to give you all an overview. The worst part was definitely the chicken barn." The disgust in Kara's disembodied voice is both hilarious and makes me shudder in sympathy. "Luckily, Nia was one hundred percent right that the building is in good shape under the grime, and what is wrong with it is an easy fix! Though I'm with Alex in spending the money for a good power washer with a self-heating function, 'cause eeeew! So between the second and eighteenth, we were in hyper-spastic go-go-go mode, as you can see. It would have been easier if the weather could figure out it's spring! It snowed twice while we were there. Twice! Can you believe it? It's April already, for pete sake. Then there's the near-constant rain making things interesting, though at least we've been spared ice… mostly."

Oh, the poor California girl. It's adorable.

"I guess I get now why people never shut up about the weather. Anyway! At the end of this, we'll show you the piles back at our place. It's pretty impressive."

I watch them rip out what looks like miles of chainlink fencing and stacks and stacks of those big sheets of welded wire that look like fencing… what were they called again? Cattle panels! That was it. There's also several trailer loads of heavier fence panel sections of thick tube steel that look like they could slow down a tank. They take down a full four smaller sheds, the two larger shed-barns, reduce three more buildings to lumber and naked concrete foundations, and drag off a random assortment of water tanks, two of which are on wheels! Once the infrastructure has been stripped away, they go for piles of soil and mulch and even soggy heaps of weather-stained straw bales.

There's finally a break in the sped-up action, which I'm grateful for as it was starting to get headache-inducing. Kara explains that Alex looks so annoyed because their forgotten preorder of chicks have shown up and, of course, the team isn't at all ready. So a big cardboard box is brought out and a dented heat lamp and filthy feeders and waterers from their stash that makes even Nia wince to scrub out. The post office hands over a packing box alive with peeping chicks loud even on the video recording, a stop at the well-stocked general store that thankfully has the right kind of feed for the beasties and back home again. The fluffs are adorable on their oversized feet… but the noise!

The next day it becomes apparent that the grouchy moods are devolving into something more than exhaustion and filth. Lucy and Alex both irritably press on in stark contrast to their usual moods, not helped when Lucy's ex shows up just the day before they have to evacuate the other property. Lucy clearly refuses to deal with the pretty, sad-eyed Maggie, and a quietly irritated Alex sics her on several disgusting tasks. Then it's the eighteenth and they scrape up what they can as darkness closes in and they leave the other farm behind for good.

No shock that the epilog is the besties bundled up in the big tent that is their clubhouse now, being fussed over by their family and clearly sick with colds. Lucy has wrapped herself around Maggie, who pets her tenderly, while Alex has her feet propped up on the chick brooder, warming her toes. Kara plays cards with her sister and Brainy while Nia plies the whole gang of them with chunky chicken soup and hot tea before joining the quiet game. Eventually Alex falls asleep on her sister, just as Lucy has on Maggie. Brainy and Nia flirt shyly and the chicks finally settle into quiet. As the video ends on that soft note, I am once again caught up in that feeling of being there.

I find myself wanting the connection they all share, the adventure that they're on. I still don't understand it, but I can't deny it if I wanted to.

> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
> You all work so hard, it's a wonder it took this long to fall to illness. Did the cuddles help? It looks so cozy. 

  
  
Since I've already watched the 'Playing Chicken' playlist, I get to skip ahead. Which is a good thing, because I want to be caught up for the girls this weekend as Ruby was excited about this dinosaur nonsense! But there's still a lot of ground to cover, so I grab a snack and take advantage of Sam sleeping. With a couple of the relatively healthy cookies she bakes and a mug of coffee, I settle in with laptop to immerse myself again.  
  


> **No barn is complete without one! April 27 & 28  
> 10560 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres   
> Published on May 3, 2017**
> 
> While building the hoop houses and the connecting coop for the growing chicks, the barn had been understandably neglected. Still, Alex knew her space well enough that she could tell there was an interloper. Whatever it was, Jerkbutt wasn't upset, so probably a squirrel or cat or something. Borrowing a live-catch trap from a neighbor without telling anyone about it netted results the very first night.
> 
> "Well hi there," Alex said quietly as she crouched beside the rattling trap alive with baleful growling. Sure enough, it was a cat, fluffed up and black as night. Even with hair on end, it was obviously a she due to the bulk around the middle of her small frame. "Looks like I got to you at the right time, pretty girl."
> 
> The soft tone seemed to calm the cat somewhat and Alex wondered if she had once belonged to a human family. Well, she would be more than welcome here! Still, she looked too unnerved for a lot of attention. After releasing the alpaca herd to their paddock for the day, she found a tray to put water in and tilt a corner of the trap into. Not an ideal situation, but it would do. After tucking the cat out of the way in the hay bales, Alex headed in for breakfast. A discreet word to Nia had a little container of plain scrambled eggs to offer before her morning chores.
> 
> It wasn't hard to stay busy at the farm, but they had all gotten good at figuring out the basics of getting things done. So come about nine am, Alex asked to borrow Lucy's car and allowed Brainy to shadow her to get a bit of film on their newest animal. She was far calmer, if not utterly suspicious, golden eyes huge in her face. Even better, most of the egg was gone. Alex was thrilled. Brainy took his bit of film, left Alex with a fully-charged GoPro and vanished once more.
> 
> "Okay, kitty, let's get you checked over."
> 
> Quiet as a shadow and gaze nearly unblinking, the cat stuck to her corner and barely moved. The veterinarian was in the next town down-mountain and a bit of a drive away, but eventually the odd pair were seated in the waiting room, Alex's jacket tossed over the trap to shield her new friend from the curiosity of a pair of dogs already there.
> 
> With a little time to kill, Alex pulled the camera out and spoke softly to it. "So, we're waiting for the doc, and the kitty seems to be okay. I think she must have known people to have settled down so fast. I hope she'll be able to stay with us. A cat would be welcome."
> 
> She didn't film the exam, because what professional wanted that? Kitty fought and growled a bit, but a good grip on her scruff had her out and being checked over. Within the hour, kitty had been cleaned up, treated for the usual parasites, checked for a chip, given a plastic collar with 'Danvers' written on it and been placed in an oversized pet carrier Alex happily bought off of the clinic. They agreed to keep her in a quiet corner while Alex did some shopping, her mind racing how to keep her new friend safe and healthy.
> 
> Thankfully, she had a whole barn to work with.
> 
> A trip to the hardware store followed by the feed store had everything Alex needed and some basics for the farm as well. Then she went back for her new cat and the good food she could buy from the veterinary practice. It wasn't a cheap day to be sure, but the thrill of the animal needing her and kittens on the way had Alex as excited as a proper auntie.
> 
> Back at the farm, Alex slipped the big carrier into one of the empty stalls amidst the stored supplies and snuck in dishes of food and water before leaving her charge alone. Then it was lunchtime and telling the others.
> 
> As expected, Kara was alive with excitement, the others completely intrigued.
> 
> "So I have an idea for her, if you guys could give me a hand. Grab staple guns, wire cutters and some scrap wood. We're building a kitty corral!"
> 
> The south-southwest side of the old barn exited out to the paddock and contained the oversized stall the alpaca and Jerkbutt packed into at night. But that was only one side of the wide center aisle. On the other side of the exterior door was a makeshift gate to keep the camelids in their space. Behind that gate was another oversized stall. With rolls of sturdy welded wire that made half inch squares, Alex planned on sealing the entire thing up. With all of them working as a team, they had the wire sheets stapled tight from stall walls to ceiling joists in short order. Corners were reinforced and the hardware cloth stapled to the lower edge of every wall to trail out onto the dirt to prevent digging. A screen door was made for access, and a solid one that would lead outside when they completed a small run out.
> 
> Fresh straw bales were set out with hidey-holes between them, soft hay scattered on the dirt floors, with a blanket and some old shirts set out for sleeping spots. A big dish of water not easy to knock over and a proper food dish were added before Alex shushed the gang and retrieved her friend. She set the carrier near the straw bales and made sure the door was facing the dishes and poured out some kibble to hopefully entice the cat. Then she opened the carrier door, stabilized it with a pile of hay, and left, shooing the others out.
> 
> When the next morning the carrier stood empty and the kibble had been nibbled, Alex was surprised by how good it felt that she had helped. 

  
  
The video ends with Alex, clearly holding a camera, turning it from the empty cat carrier to her own softly smiling face.

"So, yeah, we have a cat. Guess we're a proper farm now, huh?"

God, does she even know how many ovaries must ache like mine do from the power of that sweet smile? Having seen how playful she can be? Probably.

> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
> I'm so glad your little friend found you! Anyone would be lucky to fall into your care. 


	6. Thirst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first, the chapter name was a humorous placeholder. Upon my final read-through? It's perfect.

The next playlist is entitled, 'The village baths', and I click to watch them get to work on extending the already large deck that contains Kara and Nia's little homes and Brainy's trailer tucked up against the back. With Alex's beefy truck, the trailer is pulled away and left nearby in the weeds. Stacks of more deck boards made of recycled plastic go in place more quickly than the underlying support structure of treated wood and concrete footings.

A delivery comes in that first day, shrink-wrapped pallets of neatly bundled bits of building just like the shed kits had been. This one is different in that it's made of something Kara explains are called 'sips panels'.

"It means structurally insulated panels. See, there's plywood or OSB, that's the chunky particle board stuff to most of you and what we have here, and it's glued to either side of a core of styrofoam that is the insulation. We got the extra thick six inch stuff, 'cause snow! So the panels are strong, stable and pretty easy to run plumbing and electrical through. And it's its own structure, so we don't have to build two by four wall innards or any of that stuff. So it should go fast!"

She's right, the panels pre-cut and stacked in relative order with a detailed set of directions that Brainy takes charge of. It's funny to listen to his crisp, formal speech behind the camera keeping the women organized. Atop posts set in deep concrete footings, a structure begins to emerge, not much larger than the nearby saloon, but with a second story to double its useful space. It's all hands on deck to get the larger set of pre-made stairs in place, then they have to wrestle up the smaller set to the landing and then into position.

On day two, they're up with the sun, setting more of the sips panels in place to shape the roof. I can't help my instinctual fear of these admirable idiots some three stories off the ground, wrestling the large panels into place and screwing them down. At least there are safety harnesses involved. Most of the high work is done by Alex and Nia, and that makes sense as Kara and Lucy are too excitable to be safe up there. 

So, the odd thing about the bathhouse is that half of one of the exterior walls is left unfinished. It's odd looking, with one wall only half sided in, a hallway dumping out into open air, the rough in of a kitchen standing completely exposed. Thankfully, Kara explains that they'll soon break down the big tent and set it up to enclose the kitchen until they can get a permanent structure up. Clever!

With a combination of muscle power and the truck's winch, panels are sent up to be secured, followed by long sheets of artistically corrugated steel painted slate blue. The roof is almost done when Nia slips and Alex instinctually lunges to grab her arm. And gets slammed into the top ridge of the roof for her troubles.

Yes, I gasp like some cartoon damsel. Shut up.

Laughing, Alex hangs on while Nia gets herself situated, waving off the concern over the blood dripping over her lips and chin. Still completely amused, Alex fingers her split lip and slaps at the speckles of blood on the blue paint.

"It's my roof now!"

Honestly, she's insane… and I desperately want to kiss that damaged smile and make it all better.

"You gonna live, Doc?" Lucy shouts up with all the sarcasm expected and Alex's offended look equals it.

"Lucifer, I have been shot at and stabbed and punched unconscious by a tweaker who thought I was a _beep_ ing bear. I did not smack my head or wrench my neck and I can survive a split lip. What?"

That last question is aimed at a horrified-looking Nia --and I'm right there with her-- and it takes her a moment to say somewhat faintly, "that's a lot to unpack. I'm stuck somewhere between 'stabbed' and 'bear'."

Alex just laughs.

I'm torn between admiration, amusement and a sharp lust for this wild creature. She is equal parts crazy and amazing, sassing about terrible things in her past while sitting on a sheet metal roof thirty feet in the air. 

The video ends with Alex and Nia shimmying on their butts to the ladder at the low edge of the roof, where Alex pantomimes like she's going to take a flying leap, then dies laughing as even the normally unflappable Lucy looks alarmed for a moment. Kara looks like she just about pissed herself. In fact, when Alex reaches the ground, she barely has time to turn before the larger Kara has her by the collar and has gently slammed her back into the extension ladder.

"I'll give you a head injury, you--"

The scene abruptly cuts to the drone camera that watches as Kara clamps Alex into an awkward headlock and bodily drags her to the tent, assumedly for some tending to.

Still feeling like I'm far too caught up in that last video, I shut down my browser and set aside the computer for a bit.

They must sleep amazingly well with the hours they put in. I envy them that. Looking down at my hands, then doing a scan of my familiar body, I note that the only calluses I have are from holding a pen and my limited musculature is from exercise machines and a moderately active life. Not that any lover has ever complained about my body! It gets me thinking about my crush and fantasizing about those doubtlessly work-rough hands and the glorious power behind them.

Clearing my throat, I do my best to shake off the lusty images and the heat I can feel from cheeks to cleavage. Maybe I should wait to comment for a bit. Playful flirting might turn to inappropriate lust right about now.

"You still enjoying those videos?" Sam teases from far to close and I jump, whipping my head around where I'm curled up on the couch and nearly knocking myself to the floor. She's grinning that Cheshire cat grin, the one that would be irritating if she weren't so cute, and sipping at a mug. God, I hadn't even heard her walk in!

"Sam!" I gasp, a bit breathless and dramatic, but she really did startle me!

She hums a wordless noise as suggestive as her grin. With a sexy sashay to her hips, Sam approaches, setting aside her mug to lean over me. Instead of the kiss I'm expecting, she makes me squeak with a toothy nuzzle at my throat. Good goddess, that feels good.

"This blush is sexy on you," she purrs and makes me whine when she stands back up to lightly smack my knee. "Scoot over and we can finish up wherever you're at together."

I know Sam well and if I comply with her frisky bossiness, I'm betting I can coax her off for some recreation once she's teased me enough. So I let her settle in behind me and grab the computer to click on the next playlist, simply called, 'Bees!'

A golden-retriever-excited Kara rockets at her sister to nearly send them both ass over heels into the wet grass, squealing on about, "they're here! They're here!" A fast-forward trip to the miniscule post office/general store has a box in Kara's hands that is about the size of a smaller carryon suitcase. She holds it like its breakable glass, her face wreathed in wonder.

A just as fast trip home has the sisters climbing out of the truck and the others wandering over to see the newest additions. Alex's smile is small around her split lip, held together with a butterfly bandage, and is a mix of fond and annoyed. With a glance to ensure Kara's not going to trip over her own feet in her intensity over her bees, Alex is off on an exasperated tear.

"I know most of them mean well, but if one more guy gives me the shtick of, 'well golly gee, missy, you sure seem to know what you're doin' I'm gonna sic the _beep_ ing llama on them. You'd think this being Gaysville USA would rub some of the misogyny off."

Kara taps Brainy on the shoulder and he swings the camera over, nearly clocking her in the face. "Pardon me," he mutters and Kara smiles.

"The world needs more actual nice men like you, pal. You don't impose yourself on women or assume we don't know what we're doing."

His protest is instant and emphatic. "Certainly not!"

"You the best!" Alex yells as she strides away to the barn. Past the four makeshift pens full of half-grown chickens are a jumble of supplies. Even though the large box she pulls out of the mess is clearly quite heavy, she hoists it onto her shoulder and heads for the hoop greenhouses. 

Between the muscles and the low-slung, baggy jeans, I'm having quite the drool. That carries me through Kara's happy rambling on about the supplies and the fascinating beehive kit she's ordered. The subjects range over general care of the helpful insects, to little details that Kara is very careful to adhere to, like how the hive entrance should face east to catch the morning sun and things called 'mouse guards', and sticky traps for predatory mites and beetles and moths.

I'm always happy to watch Alex work, not gonna lie, and I'm perfectly fine learning more than I will ever need to know about honeybees as the price for the show.

The hive comes together into a rectangular wooden box like a coffin that stands on sturdy legs. The roof is lightly peaked and has metal roofing material tacked onto it for being out in the elements. There are small slits on the side I can only assume are for the bees to fly in and out. When the thing is complete, the sisters hang wooden frames on the inside. Some of them have molded plastic in a honeycomb shape mounted in them and some are open for the bees to build their comb in. 

At first, I'm utterly confused why Kara keeps calling the box made of window screen material containing the bees a 'nuke'. A quick Google search reveals it's 'nuc' as in nucleus colony. That makes far more sense. With the hive complete, the sisters set the bee box inside, open it, and fill a plastic feeder trough with heavy sugar syrup to feed the insects while they settle in.

Then it's back to work, though Kara fretting over her new pets is a clear distraction.

There's a break from the bath house to lay foundations nearby, Lucy's voiceover explaining that she's bought a kit house made of --all the things-- two international shipping containers. That should be interesting. Despite the sogginess of spring still clinging on, the first of a handful of cement trucks arrive to dump their loads into low frames the team builds. The first is for Lucy's home and the rest goes to a far larger pad that will anchor the saloon kit we're all curious about and the big salvaged shed from the ransacked farm.

When the bathhouse exterior is complete, the tent is taken down, scrubbed with a bit of soap and several push brooms, and set back up to enclose the exposed side of the bathhouse. Ah, now I get what they're doing!

In a single day, half tripping over one another in their haste, the five friends get one bathroom complete enough to use, drawing straws for the order that they each get to indulge in a proper bath. Nia is delighted to be the first and giggles at Alex's pouting over her short straw.

"Oh sure, laugh it up, little sister two!" she teases and Nia looks shocked and then teary at the adoption. 

The days seem to be flying by for the busy quintet and the on and off again Maggie. 

Lucy's house shows up as two honest-to-Abe twenty-foot shipping containers painted a pleasant grass green trimmed in summer sky blue. Each has been extended in height and resided in a much nicer corrugated metal. Windows, doors, cabinets, appliances and hardwood floors are already in place when the enormous sheets of shrink wrap come off. 

A special forklift carried on the rear of one of the delivery trucks easily hoists the containers while Lucy hides nervously behind an amused Alex. Nia takes over ensuring that the boxy pieces are delicately set into place tucked close together and offset by some five feet along their length for some additional visual interest and windows. A little finagling, some pushing and pulling and a few hollow thuds that make the team cringe, and it's over.

As the trucks drive away, the team shares a long look and a few pointed comments that the road has got to be prioritized. The heavy vehicles have torn up the ground and there was more than once that the footing was treacherous enough that the delivery people were doubtlessly swearing colorfully.

Another useful trick for the fast-forward sequences, I'll bet.

Inside the cute green and blue house, Team Lanvers admires the snug yet surprisingly spacious interior.

"This is really cool, Lucy," Kara marvels and I have to agree. There's a nicely appointed kitchen with green-washed cabinets, a moderate bathroom with a corner shower and a huge opening between the two containers. Stepping over the raw slash where the units need to be sealed together, the gang pokes their noses into the small bedroom and takes down the wood bracing holding more goodies tight to the living room wall. There lies the sliding glass back door, a small woodstove and it's ducting, a chunky air-conditioning unit, and a jumble of other goodies.

"Sweet," Alex pipes up in a bright tone and smacks her hands together to rub them eagerly. "Let's get your walls and roof buttoned up in case of rain. The interior can wait for now."

> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
>  I love the building projects! There's something about the focus and diligence that is enrapturing. 

Next video and a new day is the painfully hilarious shearing of the herd. Despite what is clearly a warmish day, the gang is dressed in their weatherproof Carhartt best in defense of potential defensive spitting and flailing cloven hooves. A stranger is there to do the actual shearing, but the gang I have come to love has to do most of the rest of the work. It takes the Danvers sisters and Nia to corner Jerkbutt and get a halter on her to kick off the festivities.

Oh and kick she does!

Grouchy, squirmy and complaining, Jerkbutt is a huge hassle, but at least she doesn't spit at a very patient Kara holding her halter. Though she does bash Alex into the wall a couple times. Finally, the stranger gets the bulk of the matted and filthy coat off. The 'I'm gonna barf' look says it all as Lucy gingerly wraps the mess up in a tarp and evacuates the scene.

The alpaca are even less happy, but are smaller and more easily managed; and even I can see that they are immediately relieved once shorn clean. They prance and shake themselves out and trot out to the patchy fields to browse.

The end of the video is a shot of a deep trench dug by the big orange Kubota, fleeces piled in the bottom. With great relish, Lucy mans the earth-mover attachment on the back and starts to bury the whole stinking mess.

"Next year, the herd will be in good shape," Alex comments to the camera. "And we'll have proper fleece to work with."

"And happier animals!" Lucy shouts out as the toothy bucket end scrapes dirt viciously into the trench to eliminate the evidence of the poor care of their cloven-hoofed friends.

> **Roads, grass, kittens and chicks! May 11 & 12.  
> ** 12875 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on May 20, 2017 
> 
> With less dramatic temperatures and precipitation, Team Lanvers turned to different tasks.
> 
> First up was improving the gravel road. As much as they were all desperate to get septic fields installed and never see a porta-potty again, roads had to come first. Even the mid-weight maintenance trucks for the bathroom rentals were having trouble getting in. 
> 
> Thankfully, the old tree farm in the back forty of the property meant the road had originally been built for fully-loaded semi trucks, which gave them a good base to clean up.
> 
> With a surprisingly adept Brainy at the controls of the big Kubota to scrape the road flat and calculate what would be needed, Alex took the smaller John Deere and its big mower plate to knock down everything in the neglected pasture areas. With the exceptions of a few healthy trees for ambiance and shade. Then she switched out that device for a rented seed spreader to scatter bags of orchard grass seed mixed with about ten percent alfalfa and just a smattering of edible flowers over the neglected pasture. It would be welcome for human eyes and camelid bellies. 

"Oh my god… Sam, she's planting flowers. Flowers! With that tractor. By the acre. How has no woman put a ring on that?"

"Right? Wife goals for sure."

> Pleased with her day's work, Alex drove the little John Deere over to the others, freeing a grateful Nia to scamper off and get some dinner prepared. Letting a weary Lucy take over the small tractor, Alex grabbed her shovel and bantered with her sister. Not many people could still have any energy, much less cheer after shoveling wet soil and heavy gravel all day, but Kara had never been most people.
> 
> Eventually, Nia bellowed and the work crew wearily threw their tools into the Kubota's bucket and they all trudged home.
> 
> "I really love the new and improved clubhouse!" Kara enthused as they trooped in to find Nia setting out hot fried slabs of meatloaf beside all the fixings a hamburger could ever want.
> 
> The next day's roadwork was going along peacefully enough when Nia came racing up like her rear end was on fire.
> 
> "Alex! Alex! There are kittens!"
> 
> Skidding to a halt on the not-yet-compacted gravel, she was narrowly missed as Alex dropped her shovel and fled for the barn.
> 
> Alex had gotten very attached to the pretty barn cat, even getting her fingers sniffed not two days ago. The gifts of plentiful food, fresh water and mostly peace and quiet had reassured Mama B --as Alex had started calling her-- that she was indeed safe.
> 
> Quietly letting herself into the cat pen, Alex listened carefully and heard little sounds exactly where she had expected to. When setting up the space, she had deliberately set three hay bales to make a little cave and from that space came quiet, birdlike cries.
> 
> "Hey, pretty mama, can I see?" Alex cajoled softly, silently threatening her fellow clumsy monkeys to not make any noise, and laid out on her belly in the loose straw. She scooted close enough to not quite block the entrance and laid her chin on her crossed arms. As her eyes adjusted, she could see the black cat, eyes wide and panting heavily. There were definitely squirmy little bodies already pressed to her belly, three that she could see and possibly a fourth the same color as their mama.
> 
> Alex stayed like that, softly talking to and encouraging the cat while she worked hard to deliver and clean two more kittens. Someone turned on the barn lights, which made Mama B hunker down amidst her children, but her ears remained relaxed. When Alex took a chance that birth hormones might have softened B up and reached in a relaxed hand, she was able to rub softly between those erect ears.
> 
> Leaving her hand close, Alex watched the cats adoringly until she unknowingly faded away to sleep. 

There's no mistaking Alex drifting off after she reaches a hand into the hay cave where the barn cat clearly must be. As the video fades to black, it abruptly lights up again to show a grinning Kara standing on the road with the village behind her.

"So, Alex fell asleep guarding the kitties, which, seriously, cutest thing ever, but later let us know that there are six kittens in all different colors and they all seem healthy. Stay tuned for more updates on our newest arrivals to Rainbow Haven Acres! Bye!"

> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
>  Cutest thing ever, indeed.
> 
> **Poultry and Puns. May 16.  
> ** 12846 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on May 23, 2017 
> 
> They'd finished up with the bare minimum of getting the road functional and dove straight into moving the yurt and getting plumbing laid. With only two days to get that done in, Team Lanvers had done little but work, sleep, eat and in Alex's case, visit Mama B and her kittens. Hell, she'd slept more in the cat corral than her own bed lately. 
> 
> But feeling Mama B's purr under her fingertips had been worth it.
> 
> So, here they were at day… whatever this Tuesday was, and yet another contractor was there to siphon thinning funds and provide desperately needed septic fields. Four months without civilized plumbing was four months too many.
> 
> Alex couldn't imagine how the hell septic fields could possibly be interesting to their internet audience, but nonetheless, she made sure that Brainy got some good footage of the heavy digging and truckloads of pipe and crushed stone. So far, pretty much everything they did had garnered at least some interest and the viewership numbers continued to climb, slowly beefing up the checks from YouTube. It wasn't a lot, but it was nice to have a tangible reward for the effort of making the damn videos.
> 
> Maggie was back again, gently persistent in her pursuit of winning a chance to woo Lucy again. Prickly and temperamental as Lucy could be, she hadn't sent her ex away, so they might stand a chance. Good, they were well matched if they could stop being hotheads with each other. Alex had watched the whole rise and fall of the glorious drama that was Sawlane --Lucy's moniker for them, not Alex's-- and knew they could mature into something real with a bit of time and effort.
> 
> Today, that wild pair could watch the contractor like a pair of hyperactive hawks and learn all there was to know about septic fields. It would keep them occupied and together.
> 
> Later, the whole team needed to get the damn saloon and its attendant shed up! They were in desperate need of some good storage space that was sealed up better than the old barn.
> 
> As for Alex, she had to go corral Kara away from her precious bees. They had half-grown chicks to tend to today!
> 
> While Alex's obsession lately might be the cats, Kara's remained her new hive and the hordes of buzzy inhabitants within it. She had an affinity for it, her gentle, sunny personality completely non-threatening to the bees.
> 
> So much so that she'd taken to tending them in shorts and a tank, only the veiled hat wrapped around her neck and head. Most of the time, she would just sit in the grass and watch them, utterly entranced. It was cute. Today, Kara had the lid of the hive open and was fiddling with a gallon jug she'd stripped of its label to reuse for the sugar syrup helping the bees out in these early days. Bringing up the camera Brainy had pressed into her hands, Alex recorded the adorableness.
> 
> "Just a light syrup today, my bee-utiful girls!"
> 
> There was no mistaking the emphasis on 'bee' and Alex had to tease, "ugh, Kara, really? Will you ever run out of bee jokes?"
> 
> Jumping a little, Kara looked over and grinned at her sister, utterly unfazed by the camera. "No! Hive never felt this way bee-fore!"
> 
> "Oh, that one stung," Alex deadpanned and Kara laughed in delight. She carefully poured the thin syrup into the special feeder box in the hive and closed it up before walking over to Alex. Using her two inches of greater height to her advantage, Kara wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulders and crushed her against her side. By the little smile on her face, Alex didn't mind at all.
> 
> "And I can't help pollen in love with you!" Kara sang out dramatically and Alex had joined her by the end of the chorus.
> 
> Giggling and carrying on and getting a lot of shaky footage, the sisters collected the chicks where they had been living in makeshift pens in the barn to keep them out of the chilly nights. They were comparatively huge now, easily half their adult size, and nearly completely feathered out. Even if they did look like badly-dressed adolescents in their scraggly feathers. They squawked and screamed and carried on at being scooped up and piled into cardboard boxes, which were then carefully wedged into the John Deere's front bucket for transport. Behind it was a new/old wagon salvaged from the other farm's scraps, little more than a makeshift frame sloppily welded together by Alex, wheels slapped on and a rough deck screwed in atop it. But it worked just fine for what they needed it for. At the moment, it was hauling several bales of hay, some construction supplies and a handful of poultry-specific feeders and waterers, already well-scrubbed and filled up.
> 
> "So, we haven't really touched the coop since we built it," Alex explained as Kara stole the camera as they made the short drive to the quartet of hoop house greenhouses. "But we just need a few minutes to get some hay down on the floor and I did some more reading and watching vids and there needs to be a few more roosting spots so that everyone is comfortable. Kara, can you do the food and water?"
> 
> "Sure thing!"
> 
> With a mini-tripod wedged into a corner of the coop, the sisters busily took to their tasks before gently spilling the bewildered chickens from their cardboard prisons. For a few long moments, they just huddled, but the promise of fresh hay and sunshine pouring in the big windows protected with more hardware cloth had them wandering and scratching pretty quickly. 
> 
> "Excellent!" Alex said happily as Kara grabbed the camera once again so they could slip out. "We'll give them a few days to settle in and then give them access to one of the hoop houses to have tons of space!"
> 
> "Don't you mean, egg-cellent?" Kara couldn't resist and the camera faithfully captured her delighted laughter and Alex's dirty look.
> 
> Right at the edge of being in the contractor's way and vice-versa, Team Lanvers focused on turning a slab of concrete into something functional. It was agreed that the grungy shed would be larger and more valuable, so the pieces were dragged over by the tractors. With Brainy on power washer duty, the rest of them set about drilling anchor bolts into the slab and slowly piecing together the skeleton of the structure.
> 
> What should have taken a few days took the better part of a week as the rebuild was the most annoying jigsaw puzzle. Maggie took some extra days off work to stay and the six of them rotated tasks. Two on the shed, two on the saloon kit, one watching the contractor --and taking a well-earned break-- and one at other tasks such as meal prep.
> 
> Somehow, in just six days, the bare bones of the paired structures were up and roughly sealed up from the elements allowing masses of supplies to be dragged in for protection.
> 
> It was just one more welcome step completed in this chaotic new life.  
> 

  
Beehives and the adorable Mama B and her new babies! AWWWWWW  
  
This thing is so cute! I waaaaaaaaaaaaaant it!  
  
Okay, so that first pic isn’t completely accurate in that the barn is steel, but it definitely gives you the idea! Of course, it’s also on a flat surface and the trees are further away, but moving on!  
When doing research for this story I stumbled over this saloon-shed and was instantly smitten. It’s so FUN! 


	7. Dinosaurs!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AT LAST! We have reached the dinosaurs! I have to say, this is one of my favorite bits, because it's just so off the wall and still makes me laugh. Researching some of these details was hilarious.

Friday can't come soon enough. I miss my kids enough while they're at school, but to also miss a weekend with them? Unbearable. Still, there's no point in getting on the road early. The schools will not be rushed without good cause. So I relish the pleasure of a lazy late morning bordering on early afternoon where I can just forget the world exists for a bit.

Besides, Sam is always a comforting heat, a furnace really, every day of the year. Even in the back half of September not yet ready to give up being summer, I love it. While there's not really the time to get into anything athletic if I want to make the day a proper outing, that doesn't stop me from peppering kisses across Sam's shoulders and scratching feather-soft at her belly until she comes half-awake. Mumbling gently, she rolls to her back, arm thrown over her head, to smile sleepily at me.

I don't hesitate to kiss that little smile.

"Do you think I could coax you out of bed a little early to get going? I'm thinking lunch in that place you love in Morris Park?"

That does it!

Within the hour, we're scrubbed, dressed and presentable, with overnight bags packed and headed for the street to hail a taxi. A crisp fifty dollar bill charms the driver to take on a longer than normal drive and we're on our way. A leisurely dawdle over lunch feels good, like a reconnection. And watching Sam's animated face and beautiful smile is never a waste of time. Too often, I don't get a lot of one on one time with Sam where we're not pressured by something. Our lives are usually busy, even with the girls away at boarding school most of the week, so this is a welcome joy.

Another taxi gets us out to Yonkers where we're a bit early and kill time wandering the lovely campus of Lily's school. It had been a relief to find this place where my little darling could test out her independence. It hadn't been easy on any of us, but the staff here is wonderful and she has blossomed.

When she spots us loitering on a park bench near her dorm? The way she lights up makes me feel like the most blessed person in the universe. 

"Moms!"

Lily has never seen Sam as anything but an equal parent, not yet a year and a half old when they met. Still small for her age, she nonetheless gets an arm around each of us as we stand to greet her.

"I've missed you, baby," I gush and Lily lets me sweep her up into a full-body hug. Small or not, she's not my little baby anymore!

After getting Lily's things sorted out --no easy task as excited as she is-- it's a last taxi to the car rental agency and Sam behind the wheel of a nice little coupe to make the drive north to Peekskill. We wander around the town for a couple of hours before Ruby is done for the week. As she's newly in high school --and god how did that happen-- her hours are longer.

There's little time for more than dinner with her in the campus dining hall before she's off for final preparations and then the play. Honestly, the kids aren't bad and I even enjoy myself, rather than suffer through supportively. Certainly an improvement from some projects past!

A fun night at our favorite little B&B in town and a last matinee on Saturday sees an exhausted Ruby pouring herself into the rental to doze most of the drive home. Characteristically, Lily chatters on tirelessly about everything in her head and I relish the sharing.

Once home, the girls race each other to the elevator and then down the hall to our apartment, Sam hot on their heels, egging them on. Ruby feigns tiredness to let Lily win as she usually does. The sprawling apartment feels right again with their noise and energy filling it. There is much rumpusing about as they settle in, then Sam gets a chicken in the oven and she and Ruby share some silently communicative look. Immediately sly, Ruby nonchalantly gives her little sister such a fake blasé look that I can't imagine how it fools Lily.

"Hey Lils?"

"Huh?"

Hyperactivity wearing down, Lily is ready for a quieter evening, gravitating over to lean into Ruby's side where she sits at one of the barstools at the kitchen's edge.

"Do you remember those fun farm videos we watched with Mom?"

"Kinda?" By Lily's tone, she doesn't really remember at all, but then Ruby grins wickedly.

"The one with the dinosaurs."

Well that does it! Even if I weren't already eager to see said videos, Lily's instant excitement would have had me following them over to the couch for a family cuddle and my new favorite extracurricular activity.

> **Bridging the foresting gap. May 23  
>  11571 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres   
> Published on May 27, 2017**
> 
> "So! New adventure today!" Alex said with over-the-top enthusiasm, well used to the damn camera by now, and when did that happen? "Today we" --she paused to step in close enough to make Brainy protest about ruining his shot, grabbing the man's shoulders to bodily turn him north-- "get to take down a few of those behemoths."
> 
> "They are hardly that, Alex," Brain teased dryly while the camera swung wildly for a moment. Smirking at him, Alex tapped the underside of the device to tip it up. The jagged line of massive old firs stood tall deeper in the acres of trees on the property
> 
> "That's because you're looking at the fringe of deciduous trees here at the forest edge. That's not what we're after today. Come on, let's walk. The others will bring the gear."
> 
> The friends walked side by side, Brainy distractedly filming as they chatted a bit.
> 
> "Lucy says there's a good sized pond around here somewhere," Alex said as they walked past the barn, immediately swallowed up by the heavy forest there. The old road was little more than a flat track through the trees, covered in years of moss, fir needles and browned leaves. There was little sign of the compacted gravel beneath.
> 
> "We'll have to find an access point," Brainy added in easily. "Perhaps not today, as we have a full agenda." After a pause he continued, voice softer. "I have never been past the barn, with or without the cameras."
> 
> "Right? It's crazy that we've been here for three and a half months and barely touched anything past the barn. Even knowing there's a road under our feet, this place feels like no one's been here for decades."
> 
> The forest around them was old and deep, undergrowth right up to the edge of the road where it swung away from the barn to follow the edge of the high knoll beside the new village where they all lived. Overhead, the morning light shone where a branch-choked ribbon of open sky showed the way.
> 
> They only had to go some hundred-ish feet in to find the next human-made object.
> 
> "A culvert, yes?" Brainy asked as they paused atop a massive block of aged concrete that ran diagonally to the road. While part of the road, it was a sharp contrast to the soft lines of the hidden gravel and the living plants. The thing had to be a good fifty feet long and some ten wide, clonking with dull hollowness beneath their tread and stinking of slow water.
> 
> "Yeah, this is the overflow for the pond, so we must be right below it. In fact, look over to your left. You can just see how that rise there is a little too flat and even to be natural. That must be an earthen dam."
> 
> It wasn't easy to see amidst the profusion of life around them, but there was a ridge notably clear of large trees, a patch of morning sunlight beyond it.
> 
> "Excellent. We now know a route to the pond. Carry on."
> 
> Amused at her pal, Alex led the way again, the road straightening out to lead them to a much brighter area.
> 
> "This is definitely secondary growth," Alex mused as the forest abruptly became much shorter, broad-leafed trees mixed into the evergreens. "This was logged at some point in the not too distant past."
> 
> "The road is also more easily seen," Brainy added and paused for a moment, camera peering around just as he was doing. "Do I hear water?"
> 
> "Yep. Remember, we've got that year round creek back here somewhere."
> 
> "Certainly. I just hadn't expected it to sound so… active."
> 
> "It's probably still kinda high from spring melt. Another reason we've waited this long to do this."
> 
> The young forest was quickly left behind as the road swung them around to the left and became deep and dim once more. So much so that they were both a little startled to find themselves at their destination.
> 
> "Ouch," Alex said somewhat unnecessarily and warily edged up on what had once been a fairly good-sized bridge. Sunlight was like a spotlight on the clearing made by the bridge and the surprisingly high creek rushing beneath it. Grass grew thick and lush right up to the boards, and even crawled out onto them, along with moss and a few happy little flowers. Not a single board looked safe, dry and cracked with years of harsh winters and hot, dry summers. 

It's pretty funny to listen to Brainy weakly object to Alex creeping out onto the rotten old bridge, where she flashes him the wickedest grin and jumps up and down a few times. His undignified noise makes her laugh and she kneels to peer over the edge.

"Well, it's bad, but at least we can walk across. Oh hey, there are some huge - _beep_ -ing concrete blocks under here that clearly haven't shifted with the water. Sweet! We can totally work with that!"

Right on cue, Brainy's camera catches the wail of chainsaws back the way they had come, swinging around to show a towering evergreen wobble and crash down into the younger forest at its feet.

"They're not wasting any time," Alex notes dryly as the chainsaws start up again.

Moments later in video time, voices and the large tractor's engine can be heard, the massive orange beast appearing at the head of quite the procession. The wide bucket normally at its nose has been changed to a massive and faintly terrifying set of toothy jaws made of long, thick tines. 

"All those jackets and work bags hanging from those teeth make it look like it's gobbled up a whole team," I joke and my girls chuckle with me.

"Reinforcements!" Alex crows, her voice amused, and Kara races over for a near-tackling hug, babbling on about her accomplishment of using a chainsaw and showing off the sawdust flecked over her person. Impressively, behind the tractor drags a massive chunk of tree as long as any two tall people and thick as three.

There are strangers with the familiar faces of Team Lanvers, several men of all shapes and sizes and from young to old, as well as a lanky blonde woman with the sort of easy smile that effortlessly commands any room. She seems really familiar to me and I can't place it. Dammit, I'm usually really good with faces!

"Lou!" Alex calls out happily and collects a hug from the blonde. "What, no Debbie?"

"Hilarious. As though she'd schlep around the wilderness. When you have a proper road, she'll visit." The sisters chuckle at the drawling comment, the blonde Lou's smile deepening. "Constance was very curious, but since heavy machinery was involved, I told her no."

Whoever Constance is, the horrified looks on the sister's faces is hilarious.

There is a clustered meeting at the edge of the bridge and Lily sighs that this is all boring. Sam tickles at her for a squeal and a squirm, the two of them racing off to burn some energy. Ruby and I just sigh and share an exasperated look, snuggling in more closely to keep watching.

A beat up pickup truck unknown to me joins the party to pull off the road and leave its trailer mostly accessible. The trailer is a bizarre contraption of open struts and long rails like a sled flipped upside-down. On the rails squats an ungainly mechanical doohickey the strangers quickly loosen from its safety straps and start it up with a noise like someone bred a better motorcycle to an overenthusiastic lawnmower. I'm baffled until the tractor hoists up its log payload onto the platform. I'm horrified by what turns out to be a horizontal band saw that slides down the length of the log to shear off layers.

It's even worse at high speed.

Meanwhile, the teams are pulling up rotted deck boards and hauling them back to be tossed into the tractor's jaws. The bridge shrinks and the pile of freshly sawn boards grows, the tractor vanishing to dump one load and drag back another. All of it at such an accelerated pace that I can almost sense Winn's sadistic glee in exaggerating the spectacle of it all.

The day progresses on and suddenly, the action slows, every eye looking to where the road bends out of sight. By the base roar of the engine approaching, I can understand why. A moment later a gargantuan excavator lumbers into sight on tank-like treads longer than the Kubota.

There are several beeped-out reactions to the thing.

"Is that the dinosaur?" I have to ask and Ruby chuckles as the rest of the family piles back onto the couch.

With the reach of the excavator at their disposal, the larger pieces of deck are torn up with ease, followed by a light strain of hydraulics as rusted steel beams are lifted away. While the gang inspects the mossy concrete blocks, the stream rushes by, quickly thrown into shadow once more as longer tree trunks arrive to span the crossing. While that is being reinforced, several of them set to work with circular saws to rip the raw boards of their ragged live edges.

As shadows lengthen to evening… there is a functional bridge across the stream. Team Lanvers crowds onto their handiwork with their helpers and the drone lifts away with the camera filming their celebrating the accomplishment.

> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
> I feel good for all of you! It must feel amazing to do something so hands on and, frankly, terrifying. More than once my heart has raced in watching you, dangling over that rushing water or with logs ten times your size far too close! Particularly you, Doctor Danger Danvers.
> 
> After watching so many of these amazing videos, I feel like I almost know you, and want you to be safe and happy.
> 
> **I think we have dinosaurs. May 24  
>  21571 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres   
> Published on May 27, 2017**
> 
> It was a cool morning, the sky barely alight with the rising sun behind heavy, wet clouds. Alex was impatient to head out, Brainy half-asleep as he stumbled out of his trailer where it had been moved over by the clubhouse.
> 
> "Why must you draft me into these early morning gallivants?"
> 
> "You've got the camera, buddy. And the YouTube money is welcome."
> 
> Grumbling, Brainy nonetheless flopped himself gracelessly into the waiting UTV, halfheartedly filming the changing light of farm and forest around them. The vehicle broke into the clearing and over the rutted road where the heavy machinery had chewed it up, before flying over the brand new bridge.
> 
> "Ah, that feels good!" Alex proclaimed and slowed at the road becoming indistinct and choked with vegetation. "Ugh, more mess to clean up. The Google Earth photo has the warehouses over on the right here."
> 
> Beyond tall grass and a gravel road desperately in need of attention, rose two good-sized steel buildings. They were identical, painted a faded green and, by eyeballing the proportions, Alex estimated they were about thirty by forty feet. The UTV jounced and bucked as she took a circuit around them for a quick inspection. Brainy's animal objections died as the small vehicle stopped and they both winced at the cockeyed rolling door on the second shed.
> 
> "Think we'll find some squatters in there?" Alex asked quietly and Brainy looked at her sharply.
> 
> "I would rather not know the answer to that question."
> 
> Feeling very much the city girl with barely a clue what she was doing, Alex nonetheless climbed out of the vehicle and warily approached the building. There was enough old grass growing on both sides of the threshold that she could be reasonably certain nothing big had been through here. The space was floored in gravel, stubborn weeds spattered here and there from small holes in the roof and siding, but it smelled reasonably clean, so that was a win. There were a few aged remains of the building's former life, some beat up shelves, stacks of rolled netting, scattered cardboard boxes in various states of decay.
> 
> "It's not bad, actually," she called out, clearly picturing Brainy's 'yeah, right' face. Surprisingly, his footsteps approached, camera plying about the space.
> 
> "It… is not." He sounded surprised and Alex nodded fervently. With nothing but Google satellite footage to go off of, these buildings had been a huge unknown. "From this brief inspection, it appears that the building is entirely salvageable. Amazing."
> 
> "Agreed. On both counts. Though I can't image what the hell we need with it."
> 
> Walking the perimeter of the second building revealed no way inside, the person door stubbornly locked even after five years of neglect in the elements. Alex also noted that the electrical main remained intact as it was mounted just beside the stubborn door. That was a good sign.
> 
> Even as she was contemplating just breaking the damn doorknob with a rock or something as rash, Brainy spoke up. "The others will wonder where we have gone."
> 
> It was as good an excuse as any to not be stupid, Alex turned away from the door and put it out of her mind. 
> 
> "True. Go ahead and take the cart, I'll walk back. I want to take a bit more of a look around."
> 
> "You're certain?"
> 
> "Yep. I know you brought along a GoPro, expecting me to wander off."
> 
> They swapped wry grins and headed back to the UTV.
> 
> "True. I do know you that well. I also took it upon myself to bring the chest rig that you prefer."
> 
> "Atta boy!"
> 
> Brainy had rightly assumed early on that a low-slung chest mounted camera would not be comfortable for his breast-bearing companions and shopped around. Fortunately, he had found a rig that sat on the sternum, keeping the little camera close to the body with only a minimal adjustable mount. Kara would wear the head mount, but Alex hated it and just glared. Lucy and Nia didn't like the cameras at all, tolerating it for the sake of their weird little family.
> 
> Quickly snapping the elastic straps around her shoulders and upper torso, Alex snapped the camera into the plastic jaws and adjusted the mount parallel to the ground. With a spare in her pocket in case of battery failure, she was off, striding jauntily through the scraggly fields and overgrown rows of noble fir grown wild. There weren't too many of them for a tree farm, the once neat rows barely discernable in the spaces between trees. Wild saplings fought for space with grasses and shrubs, the once cultivated land returning to wilderness.
> 
> Alex liked that.
> 
> Satisfied with her outing, Alex turned for home.
> 
> Then the damnedest sound carried through the early morning. 
> 
> For long moments she could only stand there amidst the trees and puzzle. It sounded sort of like a hooting owl, but lower, and had the faded quality of having gone some distance. Even as the primitive parts of Alex's brain fretted with worry, sheer curiosity drove her forward.
> 
> The sound stopped, then started up again, seeming to come from a slightly different direction. Alex was so intrigued, even as her heart rate picked up, that she nearly tripped into them.
> 
> Well shit.
> 
> It was a brisk walk back to the occupied part of the homestead, Alex feeling like the forest had eyes. Getting back to the familiarity of the barn and the village had never been so welcome. No more of this wandering around alone shit for her.
> 
> As Alex stepped into the clubhouse tent, she announced with no ceremony, "so, the property has gotten weirder. I think we have dinosaurs."
> 
> It was both annoying and gratifying that Brainy lunged for his camera before he even turned around. While Nia and Kara were understandably puzzled, Lucy lived up to her reputation and burst into a devilish laugh.
> 
> "Oh my god, are those damn things still running around? No! Hasn't two winters killed them off yet?"
> 
> Nia and Kara looked back and forth somewhat helplessly between the two best friends. Only practice and steely will kept Brainy from doing the same. Then recognition began to flicker over Nia's face even as Alex flipped back the edges of her flannel shirt, carried in the crook of her arm like a football.
> 
> It would be one of the few times Winn was going to have to beep Kara's cussing out. For in Alex's flannel shirt lay… an enormous egg. It was the size of a full grown grapefruit, with a glossy, cream-colored shell.
> 
> "The ostrich," Nia breathed in a hilarious mix of shock, amusement and alarm. That made both Brainy and Kara's heads snap to her and back to the egg. It took Brainy a long moment to once more focus the camera on Alex's exasperated look.
> 
> "Ostrich," she said flatly and Lucy had the nerve to look completely innocent.
> 
> "Uncle Marty didn't mention that? Huh, weird. Usually his memory is pretty good."
> 
> With an expression dry as the Atacama Desert, Alex rubbed her nose and took a deep breath. "Frankly, I think this alleged 'forgetting' is a Lane thing." The besties shared an affectionately antagonistic smirk and Alex continued on in a perfect deadpan. "So, let me see if I can piece this together from the clues I have, because, frankly, I thought the locals were yanking my chain until I found this. For the sake of the viewers and my own sanity if nothing else. There was a wildfire about a year and a half ago, which is obvious when driving into town. Some loon with big ambitions had started a wildlife farm years ago and that was one of the properties that burned. Said loon vanished into the night, a penniless pauper, leaving behind what must have been a hell of a mess, and ever since, people have been finding stray critters running around the valley. Our derelict tree farm, of course, is a perfect place for the --I can't even believe I'm saying this-- ostrich to graze amidst the weeds and grass, with deep forest alongside to hide in."
> 
> Her voice had gotten steadily louder and more sarcastic through the tirade and Lucy was hard-pressed not to laugh at her.
> 
> "Does that about cover it?"
> 
> "It wasn't just ostrich?" Lucy added tentatively and laughed as Alex whipped off her hat and stepped over to dole out a smack across the head with it. "Hey! At least the kangaroos won't kick you to death."
> 
> That finally cracked a very bewildered Kara into laughing. It was worth breaking the scene from behind the camera and Alex's murderous look spoke volumes.
> 
> "Gray kangaroos," Lucy explained, her voice wobbling with mirth. "Tit high on you. Not those red hell-beasts that could probably take on an ostrich."
> 
> With an aggrieved dog noise, Alex gently set the egg on the table and stomped out, leaving her friends cracking up in her wake. 
> 
> "Hey, we can make some money off them if we can catch them!" Lucy yelled after her and Kara knew she was going to be listening to Winn whine about how much bleeping out he was going to have to do to the end product.
> 
> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
> I know I'm late to the party, but this whole thing made me laugh and laugh. When you said there was some local wildlife, I would have never thought of ostrich and kangaroos! Poor Alex looks so frustrated. Would a giant omelet and some company make her feel better? 


	8. The Bird Witch Project

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since my pal, Slugger35 is scheduled for a tough day, here's an extra chapter for all of you!

As sometimes happens on weekends, the girls fall asleep in our big bed. No one minds because our time together is precious. Besides, it isn't as though the girls will let Sam or I sleep in, regardless of where they lay their heads. 

One of the few good things about Ruby being fourteen and a half --and seriously when did that happen-- is that she is old enough to do what she pleases in the kitchen. And that usually means breakfast and a bit longer to sleep for her adults. Even better, she keeps Lily occupied with some of the simpler tasks; including a knack for all of my fancy coffee paraphernalia. With her big sister watching out, I don't worry over much. 

The scent of coffee rouses me first, which is also the norm. For someone who sleeps with all the ease of a tropical storm, Sam is remarkably difficult to wake up. Shrugging into a t-shirt and shorts, I shuffle out of the master bedroom and leave the door open. Sometimes the growing scent of coffee and breakfast will awaken the living dead and sometimes I have to send in Lily.

"Morning, loves," I greet the kids and get a pouncing hug from my baby and a grin from Ruby where she's watching over a sizzling pan. 

"G'morning, Mama," Lily says cheerfully and in her wicked grin I see myself and my family so powerfully. "Can I go jump on Mom?"

Chuckling, I squeeze her until she squirms and kiss her night-black hair. "Since I smell bacon, let's give her a short window to drag herself in."

The girls giggle naughtily as I do my best groan-and-shuffle towards the coffee. Sam makes a better zombie than I, but I do my best. Fortified with the brew and a touch of honey, I clean up the inevitable mess and park my butt at the counter to keep Ruby company. She's always been an independent child in wanting to do things herself. Unless she's in danger, the family knows to leave her to her own devices until asked for help.

Lily finishes setting the table and gives me a pitifully desperate expression that I can't help but grin at.

"Go get her!"

Like an overactive puppy released from the leash, Lily is off like a shot. A moment later there is a high-pitched squeal, a cheesy monster-movie roar and much laughter. With some moaning and groaning from Sam and plenty of giggling from Lily, they join us, the smallest among us tossed over the shoulder of the tallest. Sam is barely awake and moving at zombie-shuffle, only one eye currently activated and even that one is at major squint. 

"Seriously, I gotta find some more reliable staff on weekends. I'm damn sick of getting dragged down there because some--" I'm glad when her brain boots up enough to clearly edit whatever she was going to say "--flake decides to bail. Ah, Ruby, you are a wiz in the kitchen, and you found the squash. Excellent! I've been wondering what to do with it all."

"Not my fault it looked so gorgeous at the farmer's market," I sass primly and earn the smiles I'm after.

Over perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs tossed with pan-fried summer squash, tomatoes and bacon, we four chat and catch up as we always do. Lily still has no love for math, which still horrifies Sam, but the school tutors seem to be doing a good job in getting the basics into her head. From a very young age, I suspected my wild spark to be the artistic sort, which is fascinating to me. Maybe she gets it from her father's side. As I put it on paper to absolve him of any responsibility for his daughter barring a medical emergency, I can't exactly casually ask.

Speaking of Lily, she seems a little run down, poking at the scraps on her plate and leaning hard on a balled fist.

"Baby?"

The gentle inquiry gets a slow blink, and I smile tenderly.

"I miss snuggling with you."

That's good enough for Lily and she immediately comes to me to climb into my lap and lean in hard.

Not so grown up after all.

While Sam and Ruby clean up, I pet Lily and hum softly. When the table and kitchen are spotless, I speak up again, rousing Lily from a boneless half-doze. "I think we need a quiet day, loves. We can watch a movie, or maybe finish that YouTube playlist?"

In this case, my internet crush is nowhere in my mind, all my attention on my sleepy daughter, who smiles. "There's more fun stuff about the dinosaurs, Mama."

"Sold!"

After a break for teeth and toilet, we gather at the couch to dawdle away the morning. Sam wedges herself into the corner of the chaise part of the enormous sectional I not-so-secretly hate, but love the group cuddles it inspires, and I snuggle into her in the sloppiest manner I can manage. That lets Lily lie on/against me, her toes tucked under Ruby's thigh, ostensibly safe from tickling. 

With a quick series of clicks and swipes, Ruby has restarted the 'I Think We Have Dinosaurs' playlist and skipped to the end of the first video where Alex storms away from the huge egg. As the usual final screen comes up, Lucy can be heard yelling, "Hey, we can make some money off them if we can catch them!" Just like yesterday, I laugh along with the rest of Team Lanvers.

After a beat, the video entitled, 'Hunting amidst the Christmas trees,' opens to a lovely day and a sporty Subaru that is passingly familiar whips into a bootlegger's reverse that leaves it perfectly parallel to the low porch fence of the saloon. Team Lanvers converges on the car, applauding and catcalling, to which Sara hops out of the driver's seat to bow dramatically.

"Thank you, thank you. Donations or worshipful adoration are acceptable."

Shaking her head, Ava climbed from the other side, a smile on her face. "Don't listen to the ego. She's been practicing that move for a week."

"Aves! Dishonor on you! Dishonor on your cow!"

"Randomly quoting Disney at me won't save you, hot stuff."

The POV becomes the drone, lifting up to show the gang of them headed into the clubhouse, before panning around to show the gorgeous countryside.

"I love these shots," I sigh happily. "It's such a beautiful place."

My girls murmur in agreement as the scene changes to indoors, Brainy hovering near one of the doors, the mongrels clustered around the kitchen island, wracked with hilarity. Shaking her head, Ava breaks away from the crowd and gestures for him to follow her.

"Brainy, c'mere. Are you still filming? Good. Okay, I'm not normally the type to grab the spotlight, but those three are on a tear, and I'm pretty sure they're trying to make Kara laugh hard enough to wet herself, so we'll just leave them to that, hmm? It'll be awhile before they calm down and there's so much to see since we were here in February!"

Her enthusiasm is contagious and Brainy agrees, "there is indeed. May I suggest first visiting the barn to ascertain if the kittens or their mother is about? Your quiet should facilitate that."

"Excellent suggestion! Lead the way."

There's no sighting of the kittens, but Mama B pokes her nose out, gold eyes gleaming in the dimness of the barn, and her babies can be heard just at the edge of the camera's microphone.

"Awww, I wanted to see the kittens," Lily pouts even as Ava has nearly the identical reaction onscreen. It's adorable and I hug her tight for a moment.

Ava gets the nickel tour, which the editor gives us the abbreviated highlights of. It's nice to be reminded of things we the audience have seen, the chickens and bees and little houses that keep our team safe and snug from the elements.

Eventually, the mongrels sheepishly come looking for their missing members, finding them once more at the perimeter of the cat corral, hoping for a glimpse of kittens. Falling silent, they follow suit, waiting for the still-nervous mama cat to leave the nest.

"Sorry we got wild again," Sara apologizes lowly as she tucks herself under an offered arm, and clings close. Ava just gives her a quick kiss caught at the edge of Brainy's shot and her voice is pure adoration.

"Sara, if I minded your insane friends, we would have broken up years ago."

Speaking of insane friends…

The scene cuts to a shaky black and white vision of high grass and trees. Like the most terrible of documentaries, the camera tracks about jerkily, and I can't help but wonder if Brainy was having some sort of seizure at the time. A pair of figures flash by and the camera jerks over to spot Alex and Lucy crouched in the grass. I can't stop the giggle at the streaks of black makeup on their faces as though they are commandos. Through binoculars, they observe --the camera shakily following their eye line-- the nest. 

Abruptly, the scene changes to a plain screen where letters begin to scroll as though being typed out. 'The target has been observed. No sentinels apparent.'

'…Yet.'

Like the title below the video box, the screen is suddenly full of classic horror movie font screaming, 'The Bird Witch Project'.

Back to the action, the scene is deep darkness and the overexposed look of low-light cameras. Every bit as jerky and jarring as the opening sequence, the forest and grass moves like a boat on stormy seas.

"Glad I'm not prone to motion sickness," I mutter and my girls all snicker.

Suddenly the view is wrenched to the side, to focus on wide eyes beneath a beanie hat, that I think is their friend, Sara. When she speaks, her voice is hushed and quivering with unconvincing terror.

"They're all around us. God, what have we done?"

A blur of motion in the trees is a little scary, but it's hard to take it seriously when Alex's little scoff of laughter underscores Lucy's cheesy squeal of mock-distress.

This becomes a theme, the gang of them flicking in and out of the trees in the deep darkness, providing a running commentary like the whole thing were some cheesy horror flick. 

If not for the laughter and the jokes and the beeping out of cussing, it would actually be a little terrifying. That damn movie scared the shit out of me as a kid…

> It was stupid. And dangerous. And had them laughing so hard they were almost crying with it.
> 
> Centered around --of course-- Alex, Lucy and Sara.
> 
> There might have been a couple six-packs of a really delicious microbrew straight from Seattle involved as well. So, tipsy on barely-under-legal-strength pilsner and excited to find out what they could about the damn dinosaur birds, they'd raced out to the rural blackness of a half-moon night to goof off.
> 
> Brainy would forever regret making a comment about homaging the 'Blair Witch Project' with the efforts of perhaps capturing the ostrich. Particularly while the idiots weren't sober. He loved them like the family he'd always wanted, but honestly, they were a little insane. Even Kara had forgotten caution. Only Nia hung back with him, justly wary of the night, and all was right with the world. 
> 
> "I guess I'd better go watch Lucy's back," Nia sighed and smiled at him, robbing Brainy of his characteristic intelligence. "Will you be alright?"
> 
> He quickly regretted his wordless nod, the night as close as being buried alive, sounds echoing about the old tree farm.
> 
> Then a monster movie roar shattered the night and Brainy felt that primitive-brain terror soak his entire body in alarm chemicals.
> 
> "What the fuck was that?" Lucy whispered loudly behind him, making Brainy jump violently enough to drop the camera. "Sorry, buddy." The apology came with her scooping up the camera to deposit it in his hands. 
> 
> Clicking on her flashlight made them both wince, but the light was welcome. Pointing the thing straight up, Lucy bellowed into the night, "reconvene, troops! I think we've done enough monster hunting. Chop, chop!"
> 
> It was rare that Lucy used her lawyer voice with her pack and rarer still the particular whip crack of tone that belied her past in an Army uniform. No one disobeyed the order and quickly straggled in.
> 
> "You said you had ostrich," Ava hissed accusingly at Alex. "Not lions!"
> 
> "I heard that same sound earlier. It's got to be a male. Fucker's way scarier in the dark."
> 
> They were all a little jumpy on the long walk back to the clubhouse. 

The poor babies look unnerved and a bottle I recognize as Disaronno comes out to be splashed over ice or into glasses of Coke. The seven of them sit around the still half-unfinished kitchen and drink for a moment before Sara speaks up.

"So why the - _beep_ \- are you doing this, anyway?"

It's a legitimate question and one that has certainly passed through my mind.

"Because they're cool," Ruby chuckles under her breath and Lily giggles. 

Alex sits forward to eye her oldest friend closely. "Did you know there are websites selling edible ostrich eggs for anywhere between forty-five to ninety bucks?"

That makes both Sara and Ava --not to mention myself-- blink in surprise.

"Yeah, that was pretty much our reaction too. Double that for fertile ones. And the - _beep_ -ing things eat the same - _beep_ \- the chickens do, just a lot of it. Crazy right? A four pound clucker or a four hundred pound terror bird all eating chicken scratch and bugs. It's nuts. Oh, and the meat is supposed to be really good, not to mention lean. And it's red meat, more like beef. So, if we can catch them without anyone getting hurt, it's worth the hassle."

That seems a bit… ominous.

So, the next vid starts up, called 'A Comedy Of Errors'. It's fitting, as the team espouses ever wilder ideas to corral the giant birds. Taking the little UTV out and parking it discretely next to one of the green warehouses finally gets some footage of the ostriches, wary amidst the overgrown Christmas trees. Alex's chasing them with said UTV while Brainy whimpers for mercy just shows how fast the flock of four is and results in some film that makes the night hunt look stable by comparison.

"There's a hole in the fence back here," Alex notes while Brainy rights the camera. "Okay, I think I have an idea."

"Here we go," Lily comments and snuggles even more into my loose embrace, wiggling with excitement.

With Alex's voice talking over footage of bits and pieces of the events, she carries us along on the journey.

"Okay, so I had Nia and Google Maps find me the main buildings of the adjacent properties to ours and sent out delegations to each. So we now have permission to build a trap that will temporarily be on their lands, not ours. No one wants these things running loose."

The drone shows the gap in an already dilapidated fence, the grass grown high in the ignored corner where multiple properties come together.

"So, we're going to lay down some of the heavy cattle panels and fluff the grass up around them to hide them. Once we know the birds are back in the tree farm, we'll pull them up and hook them together, then scare the birds into the pen. Our neighbors are loaning us their UTVs so that we can block up the hole with them and then see about actually capturing the dinosaurs."

The trap comes together with the rapidity of fast-forward and the gang kicks the grass around to more natural tufts to hide the tube steel.

"We're also going to park the big tractor across the road on our side of the new bridge, in case they get brave or panicky. The stream is actually really hard to cross and the water is still pretty high, so that's as good as a fence. On those goofy legs, I can't imagine them getting far in that deep forest alongside the old tree farm. So yeah, it's a waiting game now, which is fine, because there's still plenty to be done around here. In the meantime, we're wiped out and there's nothing to be done today. Later!"

> **Worse Than a Wet T-shirt Contest: not entirely family-friendly. May 27  
> ** 28854 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on June 1, 2017 
> 
> Saturday morning Maggie showed up with the dawn, yawning and happy to see them. With three sets of extra hands, the chores went fast and they put in some hours getting the kitchen within shouting distance of complete. Eventually the scent of delicious things grilling led them out like lemmings to drool pitifully at an amused Nia.
> 
> The outdoor kitchen that was much of the ground of the bathhouse was still incomplete, but the ever adaptable Nia had rigged up a fire pit and a massive steel grid to cook a truly impressive amount of goodies that the city folk had brought with them; steaks and burgers and hot dogs and whole corn still in the husks and a rainbow of vegetables. Maggie had even managed to scare up a pound of frozen ostrich meat, though it was thawing in the fridge for now.
> 
> As she had started doing as summer ripened around them, Kara attacked her sister with a can of aerosol sunblock, muttering at the territory that needed to be covered.
> 
> "I swear, you only strip down to the sports bra when we're filming. When did you become such an exhibitionist?"
> 
> Waving her hands around to dispel the foul-tasting cloud, Alex grinned wickedly and her voice dripped suggestiveness. "I've got to give the ladies what they want."
> 
> Kara slapped her across one sunblock-glistening shoulder while the other mongrels laughed uproariously. Even Nia hid a giggle behind a raised hand.
> 
> "The real gay agenda is homesteading!" Lucy sassed and broke them all up again. 

"Damn right," Sam mutters sleepily where she has nestled her head into my shoulder, and I chuckle lowly through the buzz of my own hormones. A buzz that intensifies when Sam tightens her loose grip around me, ruffling Lily's hair where her head is on my belly. "You'd be a cute farmer."

Unsure if the teasing tone is meant for me or my daughter, I scoff. "Oh sure, me on a farm with animals and bugs and god knows what."

The girls giggle in tandem and Sam raises her head to trail smiling kisses over my jawbone. "But we could find you cute sundresses and maybe a fall wardrobe of flannel."

My glare has no heat and the girls are even more amused at our banter. "Sam, I'm entirely unsure they even make dresses in flannel."

Their combined laughter is a rush I will never tire of, and I kiss away Sam's. It's a bit of a surprise when she responds with more ardor than I'm used to with the girls close by. Part of me is ready to call off the family cuddle and head back to bed for some rather more adult entertainment, but Ruby is the voice of reason, as it were, when she makes a teenage grossed-out sound. With a splutter of amusement that breaks the long, slow kiss, I turn my head to give Ruby a dry look.

"Yes, yes, Director Arias, do continue with the entertainment."

"You're just in it for the pretty girls," Ruby sasses and the laughter explodes out of me.

"Sassy."

Me? I don't have a preference for the packaging. Generally, I prefer women because men, no matter how pretty or interesting a few of them are, need so much work. I don't have the time or, frankly, inclination, to put in that sort of effort. I saw my father wither from lack of it and my brother smothered with too much. I've spent my entire life butting heads with entitled men --and the larger the privilege they come from, the greater the entitlement and the more stunted they are-- and refusing to do their jobs for them.

Shaking off the serious turn of my thoughts, I snuggle back into the family cuddle, more aware of lover and daughters than the screen. No doubt I'll get sucked back in soon enough. I have been enjoying these videos enormously, and frankly, they haven't hurt my love life either.

Sam and I have always taken a few side trips into the sexual wilderness around us, both together and apart. Between the two of us, we pretty much have any sort of bait to entice in some entertainment. The bar doesn't hurt either.

But we always come back to one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shatterpath: I forget how hilarious Roomie is when I can get her wound up  
> Tadhgan31: What did you do?  
> Shatterpath: she was a captive audience in the kitchen, so I was rambling at her about the homestead idea. as she grew up on a farm, admittedly one that specialized in thoroughbreds, she's my best source for stories. and she mentioned that farms are notorious for getting random animal drop-offs. so now all I can see is Alex and Lucy trying to corral a feral ostrich. Or Emu, Or wallaby. Bison. what else were we laughing about... hmmm  
> Tadhgan31: Lmao. Any random critter.  
> Shatterpath: a zonkey none of them can quite figure out what the hell it is at first. there also could have been a fire in recent history and the farm was almost entirely spared and those woods are a nice safe haven
> 
> shatterpath- Kara nagging her to wear sunblock and periodically ambushing her with an aerosol can of the stuff. I gotta add that to a scene now...  
> mandylynnw- Hahahaha. That’s hilarious. But Kara would whine and say "I swear, you only strip down to the sports bra when we're filming. When did you become such an exhibitionist?"  
> Alex: "I've got to give the ladies what they want."  
> shatterpath- BAHAHAHHAHAHA! omg, if Winn LEFT that in a video! And yes, I can SEE Alex's saucy smirk when she says it  
> Lucy sasses, "the real gay agenda is homesteading!"  
> mandylynnw- And Sam and Lena are watching and Sam is just "damn right!"  
> shatterpath- AMAZING. I love it. And later, when Sam/Lena tease her about that comment, Alex is both sheepish and strutty as hell


	9. Backstory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuing right where the last chapter left off…

> The friends fell on the grilled food feast like they were starving before lazing about in the warm sunshine in various states of wakefulness and dress. Unexpectedly, it was Nia that broke the easy quiet with a bright query.
> 
> "Okay, so tell me about the ink."
> 
> There was no mistaking where the curiosity was aimed and even as Alex flushed a little, Sara's grin grew positively evil.
> 
> "Yeah, Big Al," she drawled wickedly. "Tell us about the ink."
> 
> Alex spent a lot of time glaring at the people she loved.
> 
> There was no winning a stare-down with Sara Lance and Alex capitulated with an aggrieved dog noise. "Fine, you jerk." Her voice rose over Sara's smug 'whoo hoo!' "But you have to tell them the backstory!"
> 
> "You're on."
> 
> Comically thoughtful, Sara snuggled into her grinning girlfriend, who obligingly draped a long arm around her. Like Lucy, it was always a little startling to be reminded that Sara was not a large woman. They were both good at filling up a room.
> 
> "So, I grew up in a smallish town west of Seattle, on the other side of Puget Sound. When I was fourteen, my folks threw in the towel and me and my sister stayed with my dad. I didn't take it well."
> 
> The look on her face telegraphed the understatement very clearly. Ava silently gave her a little squeeze and smooched her head.
> 
> "Pops was a cop and took a job in an even smaller town… two states away. As anyone who knows anything about the west coast, that's damn far. It was a small promotion, and a better chance at moving up the food chain, but it ripped me and Laurel away from everything we'd always known. And I'd only just started high school."
> 
> "Rough age," Maggie said with a note of sympathy that sounded like she understood all too well.
> 
> "Truth. So we ended up in this weird little Pleasantville town an hour-ish north of San Francisco in an apartment too small for three and a new life none of us really wanted. Full of woe and teenage angst, the instant the truck was unloaded, I grabbed my bike and took off. No shocker, I headed right for the beach, the one good thing about the move. Found a path to pick my way down the cliffs to the sand. I'm not five feet out when this girly voice yells, 'watch for sneaker waves!'"
> 
> Alex mouthed along with the long-ago quote, her smile small and fond. "I knew a tourist when I saw one."
> 
> Sara stuck her tongue out at her before continuing her tale. "So here's this skinny, gangly thing perched like a rat on a rock, all briar-patch hair and sunburn, her whole face fierce and confrontational. Said something about, 'she's in a pissy mood today,' and scaled the cliff like a damn monkey, trailing a surfboard behind her. Showoff."
> 
> Alex only shrugged.
> 
> "So I walked out about three more feet, but I couldn't shake the unease and went back to the trail and climbed up a bit. In that moment, I would have said it was for a better view, but not two minutes later a huge sneaker wave came roaring at me and sent me up that trail faster than a damn rabbit!"
> 
> "Glad you listened," Alex said quietly and the old friends looked at one another fondly for a moment.
> 
> "So, school started a week later and at least Midvale High was at a higher scholastic level than where I would have been. I actually had to brain-sweat AP science! I actually toyed with the idea of transferring to a regular level, but stubbornly stayed put. Then, not two days later, this girl starts grilling the teacher over some formula that made me feel like I was in uni, not high school. Sure as shit, it was the beach monkey, cleaned up and well-dressed, but no less fierce and confrontational. Honestly, I never would have recognized you as the same person without that voice, Alex."
> 
> Shrugging casually, Alex gazed fondly at her old pal. "We were pretty much inseparable after that." Her wicked grin matched the little scoff as she continued. "God, my parents hated us being friends."
> 
> "No, your mom hated us being friends. Your dad was a riot and saw what we were."
> 
> "Yeah, fair. But my grades didn't slip, even climbed a bit in places, and yours got a hell of a lot better, so no one could fault us for that. Even if we did party as hard as we worked!"
> 
> They laughed like naughty children, part of them forever the summer twilight of academics and teenage rebellion, figuring themselves out together.
> 
> "I was devastated when Dad got that promotion he'd wanted back in our old hometown," Sara said quietly, that old pain still clearly a tender scar. "I freaked out. Completely melted down screaming and crying and took off. Luckily for the adults, Dad called over to the Danvers and Alex knew exactly where I'd gone. And better, she refused to do anything about it unless she was allowed to come for me, alone."
> 
> "You'd have done the same," Alex said quietly and Sara nodded.
> 
> "I would have. Still would." With a deep breath, Sara perked up. "Thankfully, Laurel, my older sister, talked my father into letting her be my guardian for the last couple years of high school."
> 
> Unexpectedly, the old friends looked at each other and burst into giggles. Alex found her voice first. "We maaaaay have taken advantage of Laurel's good deed… just a little."
> 
> "A little?" Sara laughed and jumped to her feet, yanking her shirt over her head and flirtatiously tossing it over Ava's face. Alex sighed dramatically and stood up to join her. Then they both turned their backs to Brainy's camera, showing a matching set of cute little wings on their shoulders, peeking out from their different bra straps.
> 
> "They were cool at the time!" Alex protested even as the others laughed, even Brainy. "We got fake IDs and snuck off to San Jose to do this."
> 
> "Yeah, the twenty-five buck price tag and the reek of weed should have clued us in that they weren't gonna be great," Sara laughed. "They look more like weird clouds now."
> 
> "Yet, you have made no attempt to modify them," Brainy observed and the pair grinned and bumped shoulders.
> 
> "Nope," Sara agreed easily and Alex finished the thought.
> 
> "They're sentimental."
> 
> "And the other one?" Sara teased mischievously and Alex made a great show of sighing dramatically and slapping her shoulder.
> 
> "Just because you're a copycat!"
> 
> "No, I just made it better. But maybe we should keep the meanings to ourselves, since this is ostensibly a family channel."
> 
> Alex eyed her left upper arm where a band of technical symbols nestled in the valley between strong muscles. "Good point. Let's just say it's some naughty nerd humor and leave it at that, hmmm?" 

"Is she really going to duck out like that?" I protest with a whine and my girls laugh. "Now I'm going to be curious, because I've never been able to get a good look. Though pi is in there at the end, that much I can see."

"You wouldn't be the first one to ask in a comment," Ruby teases. "She ducks every question."

"The brat," Sam adds dryly.

> A thumping bear hug signaled the end to act one, and Sara returned to her spot at Ava's side, not bothering to put her shirt back on.
> 
> "I got into as much trouble as you'd imagine for the wings stunt and it left an impression," Alex said wryly. "So I waited until I turned eighteen and could do more legally. And saved up to pay for good work, not the pothead. Also, I kept it simple and that's the little wave pattern on my ankle."
> 
> Brainy obligingly stepped up and then crouched to show the delicate line traced above the Achilles tendon on Alex's right ankle. It was a small heartbeat monitor line, the sharp spikes softening into stylized ocean waves and then back to spikes once more.
> 
> "I love surfing when I can find the time and location, and was determined by about twelve years old that I was going to be a medical doctor, so I wandered the internet and found people with these and was instantly in love. I love everything about the ocean and this combined the two most important things to me in that timeframe."
> 
> There was a shadow of melancholy to her then, of the beloved career that she had left behind, but Alex shook it off, taking a surfing stance for a moment. 
> 
> "Since I'm ambidextrous, I learned to ride goofy, which is right foot forward on the board, so I inked the right ankle so the board leash wouldn't cover it."
> 
> Grinning at Kara, Alex crooked a finger and the sisters wrapped their arms together, wrists side by side. Alex's left was a beautiful, curling wave and Kara's a jagged mountain peak. Each piece was done in excellent pointillism that had aged well.
> 
> "The stable earth to your mercurial water," Kara said fondly and it was clear the words had been spoken before. It was natural for the sisters to hug solidly before Alex went on with her explanation of her skin art.
> 
> "Originally, I hadn't intended to get any ink that would show when I was dressed in scrubs, as the wave here usually lays under a wristwatch." She looked wryly at the trio of little one inch line drawings just below her left elbow where the skin was thin and soft. "Obviously, I broke that rule, but kept them fairly discrete. It's a beaker, a DNA strand and an atom. As an MD and a biologist, it suits me."
> 
> "Nerd," Lucy teased. "But not as nerdy as that shoulder!"
> 
> "Yeah, yeah, bite me, Lane. My dad is a comic book fan and we really like Captain America and I fly home to see every Marvel movie with him when it comes out."
> 
> "Ah, Cap," Kara swooned mockingly. "The only man she'll ever love!"
> 
> While turning so that Brainy could get a good shot, Alex gave them all a mock dirty look, the smile dancing in the corners of her eyes. Over the bulge of her right deltoid was Cap's shield with the words 'I know my value' trailing down over biceps and triceps. 
> 
> "Peggy and Steve, my one true pairing," Alex said and patted the marks fondly. "You don't have to be gay or straight or any shade between to appreciate a good love story." Turning again, she pointed to a small rectangle over her heart where the letters 'Vb' could be seen. "It's hard to see, and the letters are getting a little muddy with age, but it says 'element 66, Vibranium'."
> 
> "Nerd!" Lucy crowed again. "Now the big one!"
> 
> It was an impossible piece to miss, splashed beautifully over the whole of her middle torso. There were two lush hibiscus blooms, large as a big man's palm, enhanced with a trio of tapering ribbons both lacy and geometric, one vanishing under the waistband of her baggy shorts. The heavy black of the ribbons were a pleasant contrast to the organic lines of the flowers, one with a purplish heart and the other a warm, soft orange. 
> 
> "I'm kind of a gramma's girl," Alex murmured, lost in her own thoughts and the way she stroked the ink was more melancholy than sexy. "She always got me like no one else ever has. I miss her."
> 
> The group sobered and it took a moment for Alex to continue, her tone forcibly more cheerful.
> 
> "My dad's mom. She was a lifer on Oahu and we spent nearly every summer there. She was also pure Japanese, even though I know me and Kar don't look it." Finally most of the shadows cleared from her face and she patted the flowers on her belly, smile soft. "Her property always smelled like hibiscus over all the other stuff that grows so wild in Hawaii, so this was a natural fit."
> 
> With the intuitive sense that came from nearly a decade and a half of close friendship, Sara perfectly timed an innocent-sounding, "how about that third flower?"
> 
> "Family show!" Kara yelled as Alex grinned and scoffed loudly. 
> 
> "As if everyone in this room save Brainy and Nia hasn't seen the damn thing. Okay, admittedly, you and Ava have only seen most of it."
> 
> The laughter was a filthy racket, making Nia giggle and Kara to just shake her head.
> 
> Ava shook her head, but her smile was adoring for not just her Sara, but her idiot friends too. She didn't have the intense, close backstory of that trio and it had taken some getting used to, their scars and ease and physicality together. She had been a casual pal of Lucy's at the office and had been utterly shocked how different the small, intense woman was when off the clock. Quick and cool as a viper when on task, Lucy was a loud, dirty, wild little terrier when on her own time. A casual brunch in Seattle had her meeting Alex, and more importantly, Sara.
> 
> For all that the trio were utterly the opposite of Ava's quieter, by the book personality, she wouldn't trade any of them for the world. Still, it was nice that they had some calmer friends now.
> 
> Speaking of calmer friends, Brainy spoke up, a thread of wry amusement in his tone. 
> 
> "And the piercings?" 
> 
> The women all made various noises of mock distress, sans a puzzled Nia.
> 
> "You mean her toys," Sara laughed and Lucy picked up the teasing right on her heels.
> 
> "Twitchy thing!"
> 
> Alex just laughed and shrugged uncaringly. "I needed something discrete to let me fidget when I needed it, so I disregarded common sense and my then-budding doctor instincts and got my lip pierced." She tapped the colorful little ball nestled just below the edge of her bottom lip, today a soft lavender. "Not only is metal dangerous to your teeth, the feel of it almost made me yank the damn thing out and live with the scar. Thankfully, I held out and couldn't get into soft jewelry fast enough. That's why mine are always fun colors or nearly invisible. The tongue," she paused to stick her tongue out where a small clear ball topped with a bright little green gem nestled in the center groove about an inch from the tip. "That was done specifically for new toys --I really do get fidgety when stressed, and my job was unbelievably stressful-- and the healing took longer but didn't bother me as much. Still, it was a joy to get rid of the weight of steel and go to lightweight compounds. I'm particularly fond of silicone. Call it a doctor thing."
> 
> There was something dirty in Alex's wisp of a smile, so close to Brainy's camera, that even he picked it up. And stopped the recording accordingly.
> 
> "And there are some… other benefits to a tongue piercing that only those in the know understand. Let's just say I have some fancy pieces that are the equivalent to date night underwear."
> 
> Really, there wasn't much more to add to that except for the racket of wicked laughter. 

In that brief glimpse of teasing smile before the film cuts to Kara close to the camera yelling, "family show," I know that once again, I have been deprived of the full dose of shenaniganery. Firstly, there is no way the charming and smoldering Alex didn't make the expected filthy oral sex commentary expected of a tongue piercing.

Teasing Kara about her half-serious prudery somehow snowballs into the gang of them comparing musculatures. They even rile Kara up enough to get her out of her shirt, though by that bikini top, she snuck off and changed. 

"Girls aren't your thing," Lucy wheedles at an enormously amused Nia, who tolerates the side-hug with a grin. "So you be our neutral party to judge who has the hottest core!"

Making a hilariously poor showing at a 'serious judge face', Nia shrugs and gestures for them to carry on. 

Sam huffs a naughty half-laugh softly against the back of my ear and there's no stopping the rush of hot tingles that race down my spine and leave me squirming. Again. "I'd forgotten about this."

"Sure you did," I murmur back, distracted by the subtle brush of her fingertips beneath the fall of my hair, teasing at my other ear and the back of my neck. Sam knows better than anyone those sensitive spots, the tease.

I far from mind the foreplay, though it's going to be a long day…

Clearing my throat noisily, I ignore another soft, naughty chuckle and the amused speculation of the teenager close by. Video, Lena, watch the video and be cool.

Sure.

With a few murmured endearments and kisses, Sara coaxes Ava into the lineup, and the comment about her being cut, made way back in February, is no joke. She looks like she could give the nearly as tall Kara a run for her money. The two tall blondes duke it out with an arm-wrestling contest that has them sweating harder in the summer sun, the others cheering them on. Kara braces her feet and just manages to get Ava off balance enough to crack her knuckles against the picnic table and beam proudly. 

Shaking out her hand, Ava gives up her spot to Maggie while Alex takes her sister's place. With a flex of arm, shoulder and that lickable belly, Alex makes short work of her smaller opponent and grins toothily.

"Damn, Danvers, you really have bulked up into a bad- _beep_ -!" Maggie protests laughingly and the lot of them fall to trying to out-pose the others. It's both hilarious and hot as hell, a feast of muscle and feminine softness, summer sweat and wild, unselfconscious grins. Frankly, I don't know that I could refuse any of them if they flirted with me looking like that.

Oblivious or ignoring the subtext in the room, Lily chirps, "wow! She's strong! Do you think she could lift me up high?"

It's the G-rated version of my own fascination and like mother, like daughter I suppose.

Without a single coherent thing in my head, I'm saved by Sam's cheerful voice. "Kiddo, with arms like that, I bet she could do pull-ups with you hanging off of her."

The leer is subtle, but it's there. All I can do is swallow hard while Ruby just rolls her eyes.

Sam behaves herself for a few moments before once again nuzzling my ear. 

"I had a girlfriend that looked like that once," she muses softly in a tone not nearly as innocent as it sounds. "I don't think I ever took my hand off her stomach."

"Do you have any complaints?" I have to ask for the sake of my offended ego, but my tone sounds more breathless than annoyed. 

A little turn of Sam's head and warm breath curling around the shell of my ear is almost as sexy as the press of her lips. "Not at all. I love your sleek softness, but some contrast never hurts the imagination."

"Good save."

Despite our muttering, Ruby seems oblivious for once, as Sam kisses wetly behind my ear. My inhale is soft enough to not draw attention, until she does the most Sam thing ever and grazes her teeth over my skin.

The urge to drag her off the bedroom roars back, and if this weren't a family cuddle, I would be doing just that! So I elbow her in the gut for being a tease. Still, she chuckles and I snuggle in even more, enjoying all of the life and sensuality around me. It’s weird to feel so content and so turned on, but that’s Sam.

"I'm pretty sure the first time I watched this, all I could think was, 'are they all hot and ripped?'"

My bark of laughter breaks the sensual tension and yet coaxes me to lean into my lover ever more bonelessly. 

"The ex is cute too," Sam comments in a louder voice with a sage clarity as she stirs from her lazy snuggle into me, raising her head. Thankfully, she makes no move to do more, as I'm loving being squashed between her and Lily. "Though she isn't an ex anymore. She and Lucy have totally gotten back together by this point, despite it not seeming like it and the long spells of being apart. It's subtle, but it's there."

Having not really thought about it --Alex is a hell of a distraction-- I mentally review the few times Maggie has been in videos. While I'm not entirely convinced, the cop does have a swagger that softens when Lucy is near. Not only does Sam have excellent people-reading skills, she's been a bartender since she was legal to drink the stuff. I trust her judgment more than anyone's, including my own oftentimes.

After much posing and flexing and catcalls, Nia awards Sara the title, which I will accept for pure aesthetics, though I know who my favorite is. She poses and preens and mocks Alex with, "what, you think that salmon ladder in our spare room is for looks?"

Everyone has foolishly taken their eyes off of Lucy and a jet of water from nowhere blasts across the bouquet of sculpted cores and narrowly misses the camera. Brainy's consternation is lost in the feminine squealing, Alex's voice rising up with, "- _beep_ -, Lucy, that's cold!"

Unrepentant behind the hose, Lucy taunts, "lotta headlights on in this traffic jam!"

Ruby is doubtlessly grossed out and amused by my drooling, but I can't bring myself to care.

The scene dissolves into childish foolery, soaking one another down and running around like maniacs while Nia and Brainy cheer them on and laugh themselves breathless. As has happened before, I find myself wistful to be part of such fun and lightheartedness. Their joy is as enrapturing as their sexiness.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shatterpath- YT vid of Lucy mock-seriously playing judge to who has the more sculpted core, Sara or Alex. It's a VERY popular vid. Bonus footage of Kara looking disgusted and Ava nearly incoherent. there has to be a hot summer day and a hose involved in that one. Alex spluttering and yelling, "dammit, Lucy, that's cold!" Brainy had to edit out Lucy taunting, "your headlights are on!"  
> mandylynnw- Hahahahaha. That's the one Sam would find in the archive, show Lena, and lead to a night in bed for the two of them.  
> shatterpath- the edited version has a LOT of hits, but yeah, Lucy totally shows the unedited version and plenty of unaired footage from that day.  
> mandylynnw- It must be something for viewers because Lucy, Alex, and Sara are just HOT.  
> shatterpath- the showoffs. Brainy is the only male they don't give a crap about half stripping around because the guy simply doesn't give a shit. There's footage of the three of them completely shirtless. soaking wet, posing in the sunshine  
> MWAHAHAHHA! I KEPT IT: http://shatterpath.tumblr.com/post/174405438982/face-it-kids-this-is-realistically-how-alex   
> mandylynnw- THE COMMENTS ON THAT  
> shatterpath- there is so much drooling they could make another pond  
> mandylynnw- Who wouldn't?!? I mean damn. I had a girlfriend that looked like that once, and I don't think I ever took my hand off her stomach.
> 
> shatterpath- I still have to decide about Maggie. I do love Sawlane! If they're together before the move, that's either an extra set of hands, or some drama if she refused to go. If the latter, she can show up, hangdog because she misses all of them, dammit  
> mandylynnw- Maggie could come by, an I miss you guys kind of thing. Alex is mad at her for breaking Lucy's heart so she makes Maggie help her with some difficult farm related task. Kara films and Lena/Sam are like "are they all hot and ripped?"  
> shatterpath- BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! "ARE THEY ALL HOT AND RIPPED!" OMG, i am dying laughing
> 
> shatterpath- i think my connections will go as such: Alex and Sara go WAAAYYY back, at least high school. Came out together, were off and on, etc. One of the reasons Alex went to seattle for her doctorate is because Sara was there. Alex met Lucy as a patient, who then got a job where Ava worked and she brought Sara/Ava together. AWWWWWW   
> mandylynnw- Love that. Especially the Alex and Sara history.  
> shatterpath- I like them having History. Their own little l-word  
> mandylynnw- They’d absolutely have history especially if they were friends and came out at the same time. It’d make sense they’d hook up.  
> shatterpath- I like them being kinda incestuous, in a non-kinky way. Like, Alex and Lucy put in their limited spare time for months to help Avalance remodel their place. They randomly join up whoever's available for lunch, Alex and Ava nerd over weird shit, etc. Sara and Ava are SO LONELY NOW. -sad face-
> 
> PS: Yes, I was indeed inspired by THAT vid of Jesse Graff doing pullups while cradling that kid in her legs!


	10. In the aftermath of The Great Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, there's been some curiosity on how Alex got hurt...

> **Not exactly to plan... because Alex has to get her idiot self into danger at least ONCE. Yes, thank you, Kara. May 28  
>  32852 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on June 2, 2017**
> 
> "Okay, let me go over this one more time," Lucy said very slowly and deliberately, her face a blank mask. Only Ava really knew the icy lawyer façade and it was so out of place here. "You're brilliant plan is to just jump in there, and put a sock over their heads?"
> 
> Her voice had slowly risen to a shout and Alex looked a little wilted. "Well, yeah. That's what the pros do. You just have to stay away from their feet. I'm the quickest on my feet so I'll sock and switch out with Maggie if I get tired. The rest of you get into teams of probably three to push from behind and keep them from kicking. Every video I could find shows them calming down once their head is covered and these used to be farm animals, so it's not like it hasn't happened before."
> 
> With an aggrieved noise more animal than human, Lucy threw her arms up and stormed off, ranting, "Socks! Should I throw my undies at them too?"
> 
> "Might get you a tip!" Sara yelled after her and laughed. Brainy deliberately turned the camera away as Lucy flipped them all off. That had him looking at the trapped birds again, the four of them fluttering agitatedly around the corral.
> 
> "There is some merit to Lucy's trepidation," he said hesitantly as Alex came to stand next to him and she sighed heavily.
> 
> "Yeah, I know, but we have to get them under control somehow. And they've already calmed a little bit. Like I said, these are farm birds gone wild. This isn't unknown to them."
> 
> It was true, the ostrich were still wary and alarmed, beaks open and panting, but they weren't racing about any longer.
> 
> "Shame about the camera."
> 
> Brainy made a wounded noise and he had to turn away and put his camera on the nearby tripod, now displaying distinctive scratches and one slightly bent leg.
> 
> "I still cannot fathom the odds that the drone would lose power and crash into the tripod!"
> 
> He was authentically upset at the mishap, the entire wild rampage of small utility vehicles chase-herding the quartet of ostriches to the pen and almost none of it recorded.
> 
> After talking it out more, they settled on taking a sheet of plywood, slicing it in half to rig it as a pair of shields against dinosaur feet. Recklessly sure of herself, Alex tied loops of rope into drilled holes as she explained what she was doing for the camera.
> 
> "You're certain of this?" Brainy had to ask a final time as she hefted her rough work.
> 
> "Yeah, it'll be great!"
> 
> And she was right on the first two hens they shooed into a side pen quickly rigged up for safety sake. Neither bird got in a strike and Alex hooded one and Sara jumped in to get the other. With a shove on a feathered butt, each bird was marched to the nearby stock trailer and gently locked behind the separation panels mounted to the inside.
> 
> The third hen got in a hit on the plywood that knocked Sara into the rails, nearly upsetting her footing and leaving a violent scratch in the wood. Alex took a particularly vicious glee in grabbing the comically tiny head and rendering the hen harmless in darkness.
> 
> Then she turned to the big male.
> 
> He was the one who hiss-roared like a lion, his neck ballooned up with the noise, black and white feathers fluffed to make him look bigger and more dangerous. 
> 
> "Be careful," Alex said quietly to Sara and Lucy who waited close by, antsy and alert. There was a dangerous edge in Alex's voice and all levity about the hunt had faded in the face of a four hundred pound rooster.
> 
> He was definitely cagier than his harem, dancing around until Alex finally had to shove away from her shield bearers to keep them all safe. There were shouts of protest, a feint and dodge and it happened so fast that the team would later have to check the camera footage to see it. Alex moved to sidestep a kick and grabbed the big male's head, even as that blindingly fast foot slammed into her right thigh with a meaty thud.
> 
> Somehow Alex held on even as she fell, stripping the tube of material from her forearm, over her fist and around the huge eyes of her attacker.
> 
> "God dammit, get him away from me!"
> 
> In the heartbeat it took for plywood shields to drop and Ava and Kara to vault over the railing, it was almost too late, the two-toed foot slamming down blindly to land far too close to where Alex writhed on the ground. Lucy, being the smallest, dropped out of the scrum and went to Alex while the others shoved the big male until Brainy could slam the trailer gate behind him.

I must make some noise of distress at the lighting-fast kick that drops Alex like a sack of cement. Lily squirms around until she can hug me and says sweetly, "it's okay Mama, she'll be okay, you'll see."

I hug my sensitive girl in thanks and keep her close as more of the story plays out with plenty of bleeping out.

> "Mother fucker," Alex gritted through clenched teeth, gripping her upper thigh and trying to breathe through the pain. She felt like she'd been hit by a car, the burning agony firing up and down her body. 
> 
> Kara nearly mowed Sara down to get to her sister, her face a riot of panic. Grateful for her familiar solidity, Alex grabbed her and hung on for dear life. Even as blackness danced around her vision from the pain of the kick, she managed to gasp, "it'll make a great video."
> 
> Kara wasn't sure if she should laugh or smack her. The laughing sob was answer enough.
> 
> Luckily for everyone, Lucy's military training kicked in and she started barking orders. In just a few minutes, the gang had carefully scooped Alex up and maneuvered her into the back of the truck. It was probably a mixed blessing that the camera remained on its tripod uselessly recording the now-empty pen because at the rate Alex was cussing, no footage would be useable anyway.
> 
> "Shit, you're bleeding," Ava finally noted with horror as she spotted the distinctive red smear on her shirt.
> 
> "Not much," Alex hissed through gritted teeth. "Hey, at least the Carhartt did its job."
> 
> "Kara! Get in!" Lucy barked as she clambered into the driver's seat. "Sara, you're small enough to squeeze in behind me and brace the idiot." The big truck roared to life and started moving even as Lucy kept ranting. "We're dropping this trailer next to the barn for the others to deal with those feathered menaces and heading for the hospital down-mountain and I swear to fuck Danvers, if you make one fucking peep of objection I will kill you myself."
> 
> The threat worked and Alex remained silent where Sara cradled her head and torso. 

Staring at the empty corral, I feel like I need to say something, but all that comes out is a weak, "I'm both disappointed and relieved to have not seen all of that."

"Bet she was cussing like a movie gangster the whole time," Sam adds in casually, earning small giggles from the girls. I'm grateful to her for a moment to shake off the shock of the video. Winn hadn't taken out much of the sights and sounds of the violent hit that had dropped Alex, and with no follow-up, I feel a little shaken up.

Luckily, Ruby is as observant as ever and pauses the next video where a beautiful aerial shot of the farm is splashed across the television.

"Ready Mama?" she asks sweetly and I reach out to pet her hair.

"Thank you, sweetie. Yes, let's see what happened."

'An unusual Memorial Day' cold-opens to Kara standing by the barn, her expression strained.

"So, umm, yeah. So, yesterday got exciting, huh?" The humor was a bit desperate, but I had to give her credit for the try as she really does look moments from crying. "So, let me catch you up on what you missed. Firstly, Alex is going to be okay, but she's out of commission for probably a month." A wan smile quirked up Kara's mouth for a moment, lightening her a bit. "And is going to be a grouchy butthead about it too. So, the ostrich's kick was a glancing blow, which the doctor said probably saved her from a broken leg, so there's that. His claw just barely got through her pants, thankfully, and the scratch left was a bloody mess, but didn't require stitches. From everything I know, she's lucky she was wearing her Carhartts because that kick could have gone right to the bone. So, if there's anyone watching from Carhartt, thank you so much. Your awesome fabric saved my sister from getting really badly hurt."

Kara's pathetically grateful face and teary eyes could melt the hardest heart.

"She looks so sad," Lily says sympathetically and snuggles in more tightly. As though she heard the words, Kara straightens up and noisily clears her throat.

"Anyway, once I knew Alex was going to be okay, I called our folks to let them know what happened and Dad asked how we were going to do with being shorthanded one. And it's Alex! You guys know how hard she works! And I didn't have an answer." 

The petulant expression is priceless.

"Anyway, so he distracted me by catching me up on the family gossip and stuff we've been missing with being so busy and other stuff. And it got me thinking. Me and Alex have a cousin we only found about a few years ago, and she's really cool. She just retired from the Air Force late last year, so I gave her a call."

There's real relief in Kara's abrupt smile. 

"In a couple days, she and her family will be here to help out for a bit while Alex heals up. I hope that everybody out there has some family they can rely on in an emergency, and that doesn't have to be people you're related too, but just people who are family to you. Cherish them, y'know?"

Once again shaking herself out, Kara gestured towards the barn and the camera swung around.

"Meet our newest livestock at the farm."

The quartet of ostrich were in a larger pen of the steel bar panels set up in the old paddock. It left just enough room for the alpaca to squeeze by to get to their grassy areas.

"Alex was very adamant that we can't be mad at the ostrich for her injury, and while part of me is mad, she's right, we can't blame them. They're just animals, and not very bright ones at that. We have them on healthy poultry feed and fresh water now and a vet will be here after the weekend to look them over. While I'm not sure the four of them are really happy about being penned up again, they're calm about it and that's good enough for now. Today we'll be working on getting a larger enclosure for them and something to protect them from the elements if they need it. Yeah, they survived wild for a year and a half on their own, but we're taking responsibility for them now and will make things easier on them."

There's a bit more rambling, but her heart isn't in it and the interruption of Lucy shouting her name is clearly welcome.

"Kara! If you want, her highness is awake and asking for you. Bring the camera, she asked for that too."

"Huh," Brainy says from behind said camera as he trots after a running Kara.

The jouncing camera tracks Kara as she heads, not for the yurt, but Lucy's little green house. By the time Brainy has walked past the bright blue front door and the lightly cluttered interior to the bedroom, Kara is seated on the bed, smoothing back her sister's tousled hair. Alex is nested comfortably in what I assume is Lucy's bed, an enormous king size that nearly fills the small room. A great pile of pillows and blankets has the right leg elevated, a wide band of white gauze wound around her thigh.

Even battered and sleepy, the woman is sexy as hell and the tiny shorts and tank top and nothing else is not helping any.

"Hey," Alex says in a voice as dopey as her loose smile. "Just wanted to let everybody know 'm okay. Well, I will be anyway."

Her eyes are half-mast and hazy and she looks warm and soft and comfy. 

Down girl. There are better places to be thirsty.

"So, the damage was primarily a crush inj'ry with a moderate abrasion and--"

"Normal people speak, Doc," Kara teases her and gets a raspberry blown at her.

"Fine. Got my leg squished and the muscles aren't happy 'bout it. There's some bruising already, but there's 'nuff swelling that there's a whole lotta damage deeper. Hurts like I got, well, kicked by a dinosaur, but I'm drugged up pretty good, so s'all good."

A wiggle of toes makes her hiss, but it's good proof that she'll recover.

"Come on, buddy," Lucy encourages gently and she and Brainy leave. Out on the covered porch of the green house, Lucy breathes deep and clings hard to her matter-of-fact attitude to cover the rattled emotions in her eyes. "That scare was… unpleasant, but things will be okay in the long run. In the meantime, there's things that need tending to!"

Nia and the Seattle duo pitch in alongside Lucy and Brainy to drive in stakes and set up the heavy wire cattle panels, creating a large pen at the back of the barn.

I hate to admit that I barely pay attention.

"Well, that was quite the rollercoaster," I say in general to my family and get a variety of sounds of agreement.

"You really like them, don't you?" Lily asks guilelessly and I grip her tight to me. "Even if you never met them."

"I really do. Maybe it's a little strange, but they seem like such nice people, even if they're a little…" I search for the right word, "naughty. But they have all the good parts about being a family; loyalty, humor, love, acceptance. Who wouldn't like them?"

The girls both nod and I know they feel the words, each having friends at school who were family to them now, as well as each other. Sam smiles against the side of my head and gives me a squeeze.

I half-heartedly watch as Kara recruits Ava to help her run a powerful electrical line for an RV hookup behind the village and get the receptacle set into a sturdy four by four post they hammer in with great strength. They're both lovely, but I can't help but miss Alex. As evening dims the sky, the team gets the animals fed and settled before gathering up all their miscellaneous grilling gear and hauling it over to the green house. The roof extends well past the walls on three sides to protect the doors and windows except for the sunny kitchen. There's plenty of space for them to get dinner going and drag over the picnic table that normally sits beside the yurt. Then Sara and Brainy bring out a beach lounge chair and get it set up to elevate a leg before Alex makes an appearance, shaky on crutches and being hovered over by her worried sister.

"Ouch," I can't help but sympathize at the red and blue painting her swollen right thigh where she'd been kicked. "That has to be painful."

With some assistance from her team, and the sound muffled to cover up what is probably some cussing, Alex is settled in. Some citronella candles and the porch light has them comfortable and they chat and laugh over burgers, grilled chicken and piles of roasted veggies.

"That looks yummy," Lily says wistfully and I couldn't agree with her more.

So Ava heads home, but Sara decides to stay put for a week to help out. "You're gonna need a babysitter twenty four-seven," she teases Alex. "And you're going to annoy everyone, so we'll rotate shifts."

Alex just sighs.

As the video ends, Sam stirs and sits up, making both myself and Lily whine a little in protest. "So, how does a nice early lunch sound? That grilled food looks amazing, so I'm thinking that nice bistro over by the golf course? Not too long of a walk and then we can head back here to finish up the playlist." Her expression goes sly and I know where she's going with this. "And if it gets too hot…"

"Ice cream?" Lily is alight with delight and nearly crawls up my body to tackle-hug her mom while I lean out of the way. 

It is a welcome family break before we finish up our watch and all too soon it will be time for the girls to leave once more.

> **Let's Get This Garden Started! And we got our first Sponsor! May 31  
>  24325 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on June 5, 2017**
> 
> Excited by her news, Kara impatiently waited for Brainy to set up his shot, gesturing for her to step a bit to the right. A thumbs-up and she was off and rambling.
> 
> "Hi guys! So we skipped a day because not much happened yesterday that I can't recap today. So, as the title says, we got our first sponsor! Yes!"
> 
> Giggling and making happy little kid noises, Kara danced in a circle and pumped her arms. Brainy chuckled at his pal as she wound down and once more grinned at the camera. 
> 
> "Okay, so when the stuff gets here, we'll do a proper showoff, but until then, thank you, Carhartt!"
> 
> Slapping her hands together, Kara beamed at the camera and her tone remained cheerful. 
> 
> "So Alex is doing pretty good and slept well the last couple nights. I'm betting the painkillers helped with that, and she's still on them today which should be pretty docile for now." Her expression went wry. "Once those are gone is when she'll be a butt. In the meantime, chores!"
> 
> With Alex down, the gang split up her usual tasks, gave Sara a couple easy ones and went about their day. Every half hour or so Kara would check in on her sister, who remained drowsy and reasonably passive. Thankfully, the Discovery Channel droning through documentaries kept her fuzzy attention when she wasn't napping.
> 
> Nia wisely decided on breakfast burritos, knowing that the whole lot of them weren't interested in sitting around a table with plates. They wanted to pack into the entirely too small a space in the green house and hang out with Alex. Their bedridden pal had to suffice with a tasty smoothie with enough protein powder packed in it to quiet her rumbling belly. She was just frisky enough to tease, "bleah, yogurt."
> 
> There was no seriousness to it as she drank the whole thing.
> 
> They lingered a bit to get a few chuckles out of Alex until she slipped off to sleep again.
> 
> Then it was off to work on the terribly neglected garden. They'd waited so late to get started it would be a wonder if they got anything viable, but they had to try! The big Kubota easily dragged a borrowed plow through the packed, neglected soil, exposing darker layers beneath. Bucket loads of rotten hay and old chicken bedding from the other farm were disgusting, but everyone pitched in to get it spread into the raw furrows and tuck seeds in.
> 
> They were nearly done when the sound of a large motor carried through the quiet before they all jumped at the blast of a car horn. Only it wasn't a car, but a van-nosed motor home and cargo trailer, dusty from their cross-country drive.
> 
> "Carol!" Kara squealed and took off to meet the big vehicle where it pulled to a halt in front of the saloon. The driver stepped out and had a moment to rake her fingers through the longish blonde crown that accented a crisp fade before setting herself to accept the charge. Even with several inches on her, Kara was only able to rock the other woman back a half step.
> 
> Carol had the same sort of blonde girl next door good looks as her tall cousin, but there was a steeliness to her that set her apart. She was all smiles as she returned the bear hug, thumping Kara's back.
> 
> "Good to see you, kid. How you holdin' up?"
> 
> Kara found a smile, but it had an edge of being forced and her eyes were glassy.
> 
> "I was really scared when Alex dropped and was yelling in pain and I couldn't go to her 'cause I had to help move the bird or he'd have hurt her worse."
> 
> Another joint-crackling hug felt good and Kara wallowed for a moment.
> 
> "I feel you, kid. I'm glad we came."
> 
> "I'm glad you could come."
> 
> A vibration through the RV and a slammed door had the cousins in motion, Carol leading the way. Around the front of the vehicle they met up with a beautiful, dark-skinned woman with a wry little smile and eyes like a hawk. In a half-embrace at her side was a matching child, some eleven-ish years old and alight with wary curiosity. Each of them carried a ginger tabby cat in colorful body harnesses attached to leashes.
> 
> "Hey, Mama Bear, Lieutenant Trouble, you remember Kara."
> 
> Meeting over video chats and meeting face to face were two completely different things. But in Kara's smile, Monica saw an echo of her second mother and her wariness turned into a beaming grin. "You're the artist!"
> 
> "Sometimes, yeah. Gosh, it's good to finally meet you both face to face!"
> 
> For a moment, Maria's expression stayed the same, then she lifted her hand from Monica's shoulder so her kitty could walk onto the girl's shoulders to perch there delicately. Then she unexpectedly pulled Kara into a big hug. "Oh, honey, you've been through a lot. We've watched some of the videos. Take a deep breath."
> 
> And while Carol hugged like a warrior who would ride into battle with you, Maria hugged like she was shielding you from all the bad in the world. Kara couldn't help but sniffle back a few tears while she wallowed for a few long moments. Her thank you was a little hoarse as she straightened up and shook herself out to introduce her team, who had naturally wandered over.
> 
> The visitors waited politely until Kara was done before they exchanged a glance that was a whole conversation and Carol spoke up confidently. "Carol Rambeau, a pleasure to meet you guys. This is Maria, my better half, our daughter Monica and the furry co-pilots are the sisters Chewie and Goose."
> 
> Team Lanvers was delighted, all of them smiling wide except for a very curious Lucy. Gesturing to herself, Carol continued on.
> 
> "Used to be Danvers, but was thrilled to take my lady love's awesome name. Besides, there's no love lost between me and my immediate bio-fam." The tone was cordial enough, but there was an undercurrent there as clear as an old map marked, 'here there be dragons'. She shook it off and motioned between herself and Kara. "Our branches of the family tree had forked off back at the grandparent level over stupid, racist bullshit, but I was doing a genealogy project a few years back with Monica and found the split. Out of curiosity, I went looking and found their father, Jeremiah, and on a whim, contacted him. Ironically, I was stationed in Washington state at the time and it gave me an excuse to go meet Alex. After that, we set up an informal family reunion."
> 
> "Alex goes back to LA for every Marvel movie," Kara explained with a smile. "To watch with Dad. It's a thing. So we added the meet and greet to that." With a big laugh, she turned her attention to Carol. "She was so grumpy that she missed Guardians of the Galaxy Two back in May!"
> 
> Her teammates chuckled and nodded at the memory of a grumbling Alex in cement-caked boots as they all worked on the foundations for the green house and saloon with its attendant barn.
> 
> "It's really nice that you three and, umm, your copilots, came to help us while Alex is laid up," Nia offered a little timidly. The strangers seemed nice, but she'd been burned before. Maria answered with a warm smile on her face.
> 
> "It was welcome, honestly. Carol and I both retired from the Air Force last year after a full twenty years in uniform, and the inactivity has us a little twitchy."
> 
> Humorously, Monica nodded as emphatically as her blonde mother.
> 
> "With promises of fresh air, good food and access to the old tree farm for the ultralight aircraft we dragged all the way here, it wasn't a hard sell."
> 
> With a laugh, Carol added on, "besides, a place with gentler seasons seemed like a nice change from Louisiana. Your dry heat up here? A pleasure. Oh, and speaking of our drive, you guys need to put up a sign. I had to drive nearly twelve miles to find a place to turn that behemoth around."
> 
> "Oh shit, I never thought about that!" Kara yelped and winced at her cussing, glancing nervously at Monica. Maria looked resigned and Carol just laughed.
> 
> "Relax, cuz. She's heard worse."
> 
> "And whose fault is that, hmm?" Maria said archly, but her eyes were soft. 
> 
> Determined to make a better impression, Kara addressed Monica directly. "Hey, y'know, we've got a ton, and I mean a ton, if not a lot of tons, of old barn wood from a farm we paid to ransack. Do you want to help me make a couple of signs?"
> 
> Despite Kara's somewhat timid tone of voice, Monica brightened at the suggestion.
> 
> "Yeah, that sounds like fun."
> 
> Maria and Carol watched fondly as their daughter walked away with Kara, the pair of cats trotting along behind.
> 
> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
>  I think my eldest has a crush on your cousin and her lovely wife! She just sighed dreamily and said, "those two are so cool." She's not wrong, but I still miss Alex!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was building the entry point for the Rambeau family and I wanted Chewie as well as Goose, this post instantly popped into my head. It took some time for it to come across my Tumblr again, but my gamble paid off! https://shatterpath.tumblr.com/post/186896467747/citra-is-really-bad-at-meowing-she-sounds-like-a
> 
> shatterpath- AWWWWW! you showing me cute critters and me writing about dinosaur birds trying to kill my characters. the irony  
> panyanuk- Dinosaur birds?!! Am a going to be scared? Throw in some fluffeh kitties to make me feel better!  
> shatterpath- oh, there are kittens too. and alpaca. talk about cute!  
> panyanuk- Good to know!  
> shatterpath- Alex has to get her idiot self into danger at LEAST once!
> 
> https://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/thigh-pain/front-thigh/dead-leg


	11. Summer Brings Both Hardships and Gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First and foremost, a huge shoutout to redwingstaz82 over on Tumblr, who made me a badass art piece just for this story! I've been excitedly waiting for this chapter to show it off! Drumroll please! Aaaaaaaaaaaand, TADA!  
>   
> These are perler beads! You make patterns with them and lightly melt them together and isn't it NEAT???? There will be bonus pics at the bottom of the chapter as well.

> **Here comes June! June 1-5  
>  19584 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on June 12, 2017**
> 
> Team Lanvers immediately got the RV settled at the end of the short gravel road that led around the back of the village. Tucked up to the corner of the deck that wrapped around most of the bathhouse and mostly hidden from the road by the saloon-barn, they would have privacy and space to spread out from their temporary home. Lucy used the big tractor to trundle their trailer out to the empty warehouses at the old tree farm and get it inside the one with the undamaged roof.
> 
> The next day, the whole gang spent the better part of the afternoon rigging up an enormous catio built of scrap wood and more of the sturdy hardware cloth. They were rightly pleased with themselves over the accomplishment. There was even an overhead run that snugged tight to one small window of the RV and a jerry-rigged flap door to keep their air-conditioning inside where it belonged. After sniffing over the grass enclosed in the pen and testing the myriad selections of shelves and bridges screwed down tight, the kitty sisters settled into their rustic palace.
> 
> As expected, by the fourth day since her injury, Alex was getting restless and irritable. Even just getting back and forth to the toilet, only twenty-ish feet away, was still too much for her alone. The novelty of the Rambeaus helped because they had plenty to talk about to keep that busy mind occupied while the body healed.
> 
> Thankfully, she was recovered enough to spend most of the day in the lounge seat on the porch of the green house. Goose and Chewie were tasked with keeping the grouch company, used to being on long leashes that let them get to the edge of the shade and sprawl in the hot sun. A little pup tent of cardboard to place over the bruised leg saved everybody from drama and the fuzzy sisters could love all over Alex, purring and kneading. Petting the friendly sisters cheered the gimp and made her miss her barn cats a little less. Lucy even refrained from making any tacky jokes.
> 
> At least at first.
> 
> Nia insisted that the enormous ostrich eggs, which had been taking up far too much space in the refrigerator for more than a week, needed to be dealt with. So Kara and Lucy raided Alex's shop while the rest of the gang got her set up with a well-padded lap and a board to act as a desk. Armed with a dremel tool, a full suite of tiny attachments, several bowls, and a cardboard box full of ostrich eggs, Alex was thrilled to have something to do and got right to work delicately scoring the thick shell of the first egg she had brought back.
> 
> "This one is mine. Call me sentimental. Do you guys like it?"
> 
> The question was aimed at Chewie and Goose, curious at the attention being paid to the strange object by the humans. They leapt up to crowd the makeshift work table, sniffed, then dismissed the whole thing with head-rubs to Alex's face before returning to their sunbathing.
> 
> That was as good a signal for the rest of them to head out for their various tasks and to further get Carol and Maria up to speed on farm life.
> 
> As Kara paused to pat the kitties, Lucy couldn't keep it to herself a moment longer. "I've always said pussy loves your sister!"
> 
> Kara startled and glared while Alex laughed until she was sore all over again.
> 
> By end of day, the entry sign was well on its way and Alex had a stack of neatly emptied eggs.
> 
> Well, she had all but one smelly surprise that had offended even the cats to the far end of their tethers. Luckily, Sara had been Alex-sitting and ran the stink bomb off to lob it deep into the forest at the far side of the septic field. 
> 
> When the story was shared, it made everyone else howl in amusement. With that out of their systems, they all 'ooh'ed and 'aahh'ed over the eight surviving eggs and the nearly-complete sign that would announce their presence to the world. Kara had used Alex's electrical planer on the unfinished side of some old barn wood to get it nice and flat, leaving the weathered paint on the back. Crossbeams held it all snug and she and Monica had painted wide stripes in the rainbow. The task had taken longer than anyone had anticipated with all that was going on.
> 
> "Tomorrow we're gonna add in words and I'm going to put a sunflower in the empty space!"
> 
> Kara's excitement was contagious and Monica was all delighted smiles as she added on, "I get to do the lettering! I have really good penmanship."
> 
> "And I don't!" Kara laughed and gave the grinning Monica a side hug.
> 
> The second day of June passed quietly enough, with the sign getting finished and the first coat of heavy sealant painted on the wood. Alex was kept occupied with small tasks and friendly ginger cats while Carol and Maria finally unloaded their ultralight craft and began reassembling. It looked like a slightly shrunken plane, barely big enough to carry one person and would take days to reassemble and test out in the skies.
> 
> On the morning of the third, Kara was up bright and early before dawn to put the final coat on the sign before attending to plant and animal alike. Her main job was the chickens, not just food and water, but keeping an eye out on how clean the coop was, any sign of a predator attacking, anyone missing. She walked the hoop houses attached to the coop to ensure they were still intact before setting her flock free, encouraging Monica to take over egg hunting duties. 
> 
> She didn't note it out loud, but there was definitely something growing more persistent in getting at the chickens. After they got the sign up, she had to carve out some time to reinforce both this main area and the chicken tractors with the meat birds.
> 
> Heading out to the chicken tractors, she found out that they had also been attacked. The rain tarps were shredded and several birds bloodied up despite the intact hardware cloth.
> 
> Well, the task just got moved to the head of the 'to do' list.
> 
> Lucy opted to stay and help Kara, a tripod watching their efforts, while the others worked to put up the sign. Monica reluctantly stayed with Alex and the cats, who were ecstatic to have one of their familiar family close by.
> 
> "Chewie and Goose are great," Alex said fondly to Monica. "But they definitely miss you guys. Thanks for letting them keep me company. This recovery stuff is boring."
> 
> "Why don't you use the wheelchair to go out there?" Monica asked guilelessly as she made herself comfortable on the wicker loveseat close by so the cats could pile onto her lap.
> 
> "Well, every little bump is still agony, to be honest. And the farm isn't exactly set up to be wheelchair friendly. That's why Lucy switched houses with me while I recover."
> 
> "We should do something about that," Monica said pragmatically. "There's a girl in my class in a wheelchair and she's much happier when she can get to a place without it being hard."
> 
> Alex smiled warmly at her first cousin once removed and now her friend. 
> 
> "I think that's a great idea."

My girls are chatty after our lunch and treat, none of them really paying attention. To be honest, I'm only keeping half an eye on the screen where Kara and Lucy reinforce the chicken's housing. There is also some shaky footage of Nia and Brainy with the new arrivals, schlepping the large sign along a precariously narrow shoulder of road and a weed-choked drainage ditch. Yikes. Then its digging post holes and setting the sign's feet in place, using scrap wood to wedge the thing straight and plumb, then carry out heavy buckets of concrete, mixed by hand with a large beater mounted into an electric drill.

Even with summer solstice just a few weeks away and the days being extra long, the teams converge beneath near-dark skies, exhausted and filthy. We the audience are treated to brief moments of the strange family eating hastily-made sandwiches while all things terrestrial become nothing but black shapes against the riot of color that fades and fades to black. 

There's a moment of darkness that has all of us curious, because the credits haven't run when the scene cuts to Lucy making a shushing motion into the camera she carries. I guess we're in for shenanigans after all. Sure enough, she slips into a mostly-dark room, the camera adjusting to show a grainy image of Kara passed out in an ungainly sprawl. Lucy looms over her, but instead of a prank, merely reaches over and shuts off her alarm clock and sneaks back out again.

Once again looking into the camera, Lucy shrugs, but her eyes are soft. 

"She worked hard today, and late! She deserves to sleep in."

"Aww, that was nice of her," Lily chimes in.

Settling down into our family cuddle, my girls seem content to get caught up in the videos again, the next one a shock of the camera watching an absolute downpour in the darkness. The noise is so loud, it's hard to make out Brainy's voice

"It is my turn to stay with Alex and we were both awakened by this…" 

"Cacophony?" Alex's voice says sarcastically and the camera points down and to the side where she's slumped into her wheelchair, leg propped up on the adjustable footrests.

"You guys good?" Lucy shouts from the yurt's covered porch nearby, water streaming off every surface. 

"Yeah! We're staying well back from the edge of the porch cover!"

"I'd forgotten how much I like the sound of rain on a tent roof, or non-hard roof if you'd rather, but this is a little ridiculous!"

"I prefer this porch in this - _beep_ -! Wanna trade for good?"

Even through the haze of night and pounding rain, Lucy is clearly startled and thoughtful. "You'd do that?"

"You bet!"

"Yeah, let's do that! Later."

The friends laugh and there's a flick of scene to a gray, washed-out morning.

In more ways than one. 

Everywhere the camera looks, there are water ruts nibbling away at the edges of road and pier alike. 

"No structural damage is evident upon a cursory examination," Brainy says quietly. "But the garden has suffered irreversible damage."

"Oh, that's a shame," I say mournfully at the battered garden, so fresh in the earth. Not even a week old, most of it looks ruined and the gang is quiet and sad.

As it's been a week since Alex's injury, her gathered family and friends agree that she can go with Lucy to drop Sara off at the Salem train station then off to see what plants they can find to replace what was lost. 

"But only if you keep your - _beep_ \- in that chair!"

Rolling her eyes at Lucy's haranguing and moping, "yes mom," Alex is still clearly pleased to be helping with anything. 

There is some random footage of clean up and checking on the chilly, damp chickens and letting the completely unruffled herd out as the skies clear and hot sunlight once more beats down on the farm.

"Bet they were sweating in the humidity," Ruby chuckles and Sam jumps in with every bit as wicked a tone.

"Not used to that I bet! Wussy west coasters!"

They cackle as the farm crew sweats in the sunshine with little pleasure or joviality. When Lucy and Alex return, the truck is stacked with plastic bins beneath a tarp, overflowing with a riot of small plants in a variety of pots.

"Give them all a good drink and set them in the sun," Lucy orders as the gang pulls the bins from the flatbed. "We probably have time to get a few of these in the ground, then we can finish up tomorrow." 

They skip to the next day, the gang busy in the ruined garden putting in fresh plants, none of which I even recognize. How sad is that? I'm betting most if not all of that is for edibles, and I have no damn clue what they even grow.

My self-recrimination is interrupted by the camera approaching the green house and Kara's mischievous giggle. "Wanna see what Alex is up to?"

Caught up in what she's doing on a laptop, Alex doesn't even notice her sister over her shoulder. There are pictures of dogs on the screen, all of them large breeds.

"How's the research coming?"

Jumping a little, Alex fires off a dirty look and then sits back and sulks. "Uuuuugh. There's so much info! And really, there should be at least two, but really a few pairs of different dogs seem like the best idea, and they're expensive! And this is a huge pain in the - _beep_ -." 

Kara turns the camera on herself and her expression is serious and amused. "With the local wildlife taking far too close of an interest in the small, tasty things made of meat, and with potential larger predators out there like coyotes and cougars, Alex is looking at livestock guardian dogs."

Even as Alex growls and mutters something dire at the computer, Kara grins sappily and turns the camera back to her sister, now leaning back against the couch, arms crossed, glaring fiercely.

"Because Alex is the best."

A small smile replaces the scowl as the video fades to the closing screen.

"It's funny how opposite they are and yet so close," Ruby muses and jumps when Lily shifts to toe her in the ribs.

"Like you!"

Acting like she's been shot, Ruby half leaps up to dramatically collapse onto her little sister and sprawl like a wet blanket. There is muffled squealing that makes Sam and I laugh. Ruby relents with a wet farting noise to Lily's cheek.

"Love ya, Squirt."

Lily wipes at her wet face and tries to look disgruntled, but fails miserably. In fact, she squirms away from me to tackle-hug her sister, who distractedly pets her head.

"Love you too, Ruby-Kenoobie."

"Dork."

"Brat."

Sometimes, they'll go on and on with the silly insults, careful to not go too far or get in trouble, but settle after at a single volley. It's always been amazing to me how they hit it off all those years ago. There had never been the slightest hint of Ruby holding back when Lily's tiny whirlwind self had crashed into her life.

Sam doesn't need to echo my thoughts with words, the gentle hand stroking over my head says it all.

> **A hot time in the small town tonight! A special video for June 6.  
>  15903 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on June 13, 2017**
> 
> Setting up the tripod, Kara stepped back and put on her best hostess smile.
> 
> "Hi guys! Today we are down a few hands as Carol and Maria took Monica for a day out in Salem. No matter, for we have a special treat! Tammy down at the general store, which is also the post office, called this morning to let us know we have a whole, umm… mess of boxes! Yes a mess of boxes!"
> 
> Alex snorted sarcastically, and her smile was wicked. "It's cute how you cleaned up what she really said."
> 
> "I'm not repeating that, Alex!"
> 
> While Alex laughed raucously, Kara gave her an exasperated look before returning her attention to the tripod camera. 
> 
> "So Nia volunteered to go get it and some supplies she's being all mysterious about. I still don't know why she needed the big trailer, but I guess we'll find out!"
> 
> With morning chores done, Kara wheeled Alex over to the freshly planted garden so they could inspect it and bring out a couple of hoses to spot water the tender young plants.
> 
> "Bleah, it's already getting hot," Alex grouched as the sun rose higher and Kara could only nod as she started truly sweating from even this simple work. "We're gonna have to put a few braincells back on getting some sort of pool or pond or something. Showers are great for cleaning up, and the bathhouse excels for a soak, but it's not the same as a pool. Without the time, resources or permits though, it isn't gonna happen."
> 
> Kara just sighed wistfully and her head suddenly shot up, making Alex twist around in her wheelchair to see that Nia had returned.
> 
> Like with a lot of problems, Nia had come up with a clever solution, the tripod camera dutifully catching the sister's gawking faces. The missing two came trotting up, just as taken aback, though admittedly, it was a bit of a shocking sight. 'It' was a gigantic galvanized steel tub half again taller than the truck. Up on its side and lashed snugly into place, it looked absurd. Some wooden blocking and heavy sacks had assisted in keeping the great thing trapped while being driven about the countryside.
> 
> Grinning fit to burst, Nia hopped out of the truck and athletically vaulted onto the back of it to grab a ladder there. "Your swimming pool!"
> 
> She was very pleased with herself, deflating a bit when the others merely blinked at her.
> 
> "It's a stock tank. Classic cheap swimming hole."
> 
> There was a note of question in Nia's weakening voice and Kara raised her hand before speaking up. "Stock tank?"
> 
> "A tank or artificial pond used for watering livestock," Brainy supplied helpfully. "Usually made of plastic or galvanized steel for longevity in the elements."
> 
> "Yes, that," Nia agreed and as was the norm, the adorable pair grinned shyly at one another and looked away. Recovering from their shock, Alex and Lucy just traded their usual wry looks. 
> 
> In a quadrangle of effort and Alex splitting her time between the camera and gluing PVC pipe, the gang set to work. The thing didn't weigh as much as its size would suggest and soon rested safely on the gravel road. Then it was leveling a spot not far from the fire pit and digging into the piles of gravel and sand left over from the roadwork to reinforce the surface. Lucy was ecstatic that the rolls of disgusting old carpet saved from the barn provided a cushion for the sheet steel. Nia and Brainy in the meantime were measuring and cutting pipe and fittings from Alex's supplies and more that had been trucked in. Within the hour, they had water flowing into the tank and a drain ready for later use.
> 
> Lucy was already out of her shirt and Alex was about to follow suit when Kara spoke up.
> 
> "Oh! We got so caught up in the little pool, though, really, it's not that little, that we forgot about the mail."
> 
> They all looked expectantly at Nia, who was clearly confused. "The what now?"
> 
> "The mail?" Kara repeated hesitantly and Nia just stared at her for a moment longer before dissolving into laughter.
> 
> "Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Yes! The mail! You guys are going to love this."
> 
> "We're a bad influence on her," Alex muttered in amusement and Kara just chuckled.
> 
> Caught up in the excitement of the stock tank, no one had paid a bit of attention to the large, lumpy cargo beneath the ubiquitous blue tarps. It was a rare trip with the big work truck that someone didn't come home with something bulky. Unlatching the straps and tossing them over the lump, Nia took a solid double handful of the tarps, grinning at her friends and made a good, dramatic presentation, yanking as she spoke.
> 
> "Behold the mail!"
> 
> The gang blinked at the mountain of large boxes, a mix of cardboard marked 'Carhartt' and the familiar Amazon smile.
> 
> "Good grief," Brainy said in wonder and the women just nodded along. "Are you certain this is all for us?"
> 
> "Yes. Everything is addressed to the farm."
> 
> "Well, this would explain Tammy's ire."
> 
> Lucy and the sisters spluttered at Brainy's dry humor and moved to help. Alex was put in charge of the camera to get her involved. It took some flexing for a couple of heavy boxes, but soon the shocking collection was lined up neatly. Kara slapped her hands together and rubbed them vigorously. "Okay! Carhartt first as they've so kindly sponsored us, then the mystery Amazon boxes."
> 
> With longing looks at the anonymous presents, the gang focused on their sponsor's delivery. It was no hardship as the five boxes revealed a treasure trove of all things Carhartt. For the better part of an hour, the gang admired and laughed over the swag they'd been sent. There were some new articles of clothing, including very welcome rain gear and a lot of summer weight t-shirts and cargo shorts that would be put to immediate use, but the real fun was the sheer variety of accessories.
> 
> There was the expected hats, gloves and a replacement pair of work pants for Alex so she could retire or repair the one the ostrich tore, but there was also socks, tool aprons, gloves, suspenders, belts, thermal underwear, brand stickers, a handful of blankets of the sturdy duck fabric backed with fuzzy fleece, and even five pairs of cushioned insoles!
> 
> There was a jumble of dog gear too, a pair of sturdy, squishy beds, collars and leashes, rear seat covers, all in the familiar sand-colored fabric.
> 
> Once everything was unpacked, the gang counted a full twenty two types of bags from phone cases to really nice backpacks meant for a variety of tasks, sturdy tool bags, lunch totes, coolers in several sizes, duffel bags and small organizers.
> 
> And stashed away at the bottom of each box were good, strong boots for each of them, one for hot weather and one for cold.
> 
> Even Lucy was speechless for once. At least briefly. As she pulled open one of the boxes marked for her and looked at the sturdy boots meant for sweaty summer work, all she could manage was a weak sass. "I'm assuming the rep asked Winn for sizes, and I don't even want to know how he knew."
> 
> "He probably has robot doubles of all of us." Kara's delivery was so deadpan they all stared at her until she chuckled and waved them off. "Oh chill, you weirdos. This isn't some silly superhero show."
> 
> Brainy sounded surprisingly offended as he protested, "certainly not."
> 
> Which had Nia teasing, "next you'll be telling us we're aliens."
> 
> The shock over the generous donation offset a bit with humor, the gang shoveled everything sloppily back into the boxes to be dealt with later and turned to the four Amazon boxes.
> 
> "As they’re conveniently marked one through four, go for it, Kara."
> 
> No one objected to Alex's gentle orders and Kara somewhat hesitantly stepped closer, jumping when Lucy whipped out a nasty little folding blade to hand over. A few quick slices and Kara was in the first box, reaching inside to retrieve something.
> 
> "There's papers in here. Oh, a letter was printed, cool. Camera still going, partner?"
> 
> "Yes. Allow me a moment to ascertain our battery life."
> 
> "Sure thing," Kara agreed distractedly as she skimmed over the letter and her eyes went wide. The way she glanced at the boxes had the others even more curious. With a nod from Brainy, Kara raised the letter and started to read. "Dear Rainbow Haven Acres. My wife and I are huge fans of yours, having stumbled over your channel some weeks ago. Like yourselves, we dream of reinventing ourselves on our own terms. Seeing all of you as LGBTQ+ or allies, gives us hope that we can do the same. In fact, we're already moving from just talking about it, to making serious plans! As a thank you, and to encourage your wonderful efforts, we sent some gifts. Spoilers ahead!"
> 
> At Kara's gesture, Nia and Lucy went for the larger boxes, the first thing revealed completely baffling the whole gang.
> 
> "A turkey frying kit?" Lucy puzzled even as Nia's face went even more confused.
> 
> "Empty beer bottles?"
> 
> Hiding a little grin, Kara waved impatiently at the final box and the mystery was revealed to the delight of the team.
> 
> "It's a brewing kit! Of course! The fry kit comes with a huge-ass pot and propane burner! And bottles for the end product! Hot damn! I've always wanted to try this and never had the time!"
> 
> Lucy was enormously excited as she pulled out the conical fermenter and Nia read text from the side of the box.
> 
> "Oh neat. This uses yeast that sinks to the bottom instead of floating to the top. So the conical tank gathers the debris to be removed."
> 
> Grinning, Kara held up the letter and read, "we hope that the brewing equipment will help out when the winter weather comes back."
> 
> "Hell yes!" Lucy crowed then gave Kara a crafty look. "You're guarding that last box, Baby Danvers. Cough up the goodies!"
> 
> With a wider smile, Kara reached in to pull out something lumpy in a plastic bag and held it out to Alex.
> 
> "I'm pretty sure this is yours."
> 
> Despite the mischievous mirth in her sister's voice, Alex accepted the strange object, startled to not only find it very lightweight, but soft and squishy.
> 
> "Is this a stuffed animal?"
> 
> The disbelief in her voice was unmistakable, but as the plastic was torn away and the plush creature revealed, laughter wracked her frame until it clearly hurt.
> 
> It was a dinosaur.
> 
> Something T-rex/raptor-ish looking, with felt teeth and claws and an intricate pelt of fuzzy material, just the right size to cradle the ostrich egg that started the whole saga.
> 
> "Oh, this is classic! This is mine, the rest of you can fuck off."
> 
> "The letter says, 'to match your dinosaur egg!'"
> 
> "Yep, that's what ran through my head too!"
> 
> The gang was also delighted in the wire egg basket shaped like a chicken that Kara was enamored of. 
> 
> "Ack!" Nia suddenly yelled and raced off. "The pool!"
> 
> That signaled the gang snapping back into action, carrying boxes off to the clubhouse and getting the truck and trailer put away. Then it was time for shorts and suits and helping Alex to hoist herself onto the makeshift deck edge, Kara cradling the bruised leg to help get her settled into the cool water. Each of them squawking about the cold water, the gang settled in for a blissful soak, laughing and carrying on as afternoon became evening and chores and dinner were completed and they returned to the pool. None of them even cared that the camera was still running. They were together, happy and had an exquisite sunset to end an excellent day.
> 
> What more could they ask for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I jerry-rigged up a frame from pieces of another one, and here's the final piece in a place of honor where the magic happens!  
>   
> redwingstaz82 even included a bonus L-Corp logo! Whoo hoo!  
> 
> 
> Now, I could have buried you all in pictures of the PLETHORA of Carhartts stuff out there because, holy shit! But for once, I'll have some restraint. -chuckle-
> 
> Same with the beer gear, though I will supply a link if you're curious.  
> https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Brew-Premium-Homebrew-Starter/dp/B07P6DXTFJ/ref=sr_1_23?keywords=brewing+kit&qid=1565247353&s=gateway&sr=8-23
> 
> Apologies for errors in the Amazon gift-sending process. I made all that up mostly on the fly.


	12. People and Seasons Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we arrive right back where we started. ;D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random note: in chapter one, I mistakenly said Alex's favorite kitten was a calico. Wrong! She is a tortoiseshell.

> **Catnip, OR, The Needy Fuzzbutts. Alex's words, not mine! AKA: The Adorable, It Burns. June 8th.  
>  18934 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres  
> Published on June 16, 2017**
> 
> A week after the brutal kick, Kara drove Alex halfway down the mountain to see the doctor who had treated her. Well on the way to healing, she was cleared for minimal walking.
> 
> "And I mean minimal," he scolded over her celebrating. "You've healed well, but you of all people know that there's a great deal more work to go."
> 
> Alex was resigned to her fate, but that didn't mean she didn't pout like a toddler the whole drive home.
> 
> Upon getting back to Rainbow Haven Acres, Alex stirred from her sulk to admire the sign as Kara slowed a bit for just that purpose. The broad rainbow stripes like the classic pride flag stood out against the evergreens, bold black letters announcing the name of the farm and a trio of cheery sunflower just for fun.
> 
> "Oh, hey, that's really nice. You and Monica do good work."
> 
> "We do! I'm going to see about making a few others while I have her most excellent lettering skills. Now, you can't fool me, grumpy cat, you want to see your little fuzzy fam."
> 
> The sulk vanished into sheepish hope. "Can we?"
> 
> "Of course! Since the doc was nice enough to provide you with that leg shield thingie, teeny paws won't stomp your little boo-boo."
> 
> "Little boo-boo," Alex scoffed, but her smile was back.
> 
> Of course, the return of the Subaru had the original gang converging from all corners, the Rambeaus off for a family day. The enthusiasm of the welcome warmed Alex and lightened her spirits. The weird little family they had built here just felt good. There were hugs all around, even Brainy, who was rarely easy with demonstrativeness. 
> 
> Kara shoved the utilitarian cane under her hand to get some weight off her leg while they all socialized. After a bit, Alex realized she was sweating not just from the summer sun, but the effort of being on her aching leg. Kara gave her a squinty-eyed look before turning to where Lucy and Nia stood side by side. "You are in charge of making sure she doesn't overdo it. We'll go set up a shot to see if Alex can coax out the cats. Come on, Brainy!"
> 
> "Guess we have our orders, huh?" Nia cracked wryly and herded a slow-moving Alex towards her destination. 
> 
> Ignoring Kara and Brainy muttering over their shot, Alex concentrated on her destination. Dammit, walking hurt! In the stifling warmth of the barn, she pulled off her shirt, not caring in the slightest that she was only in her bra, already damp with sweat.
> 
> She barely managed to get the wire-screened door closed before an inky black face and pricked ears was at the entrance to the hay cave. A little cat-trill of sound from Alex and her barn cat pal bounded out and was immediately winding around her ankles and purring like a tiny chainsaw. 
> 
> Happy to see her, but really needing to sit down, Alex was relieved when B slipped back into her cave and she could make it a few steps closer to where some straw bales acted as a bench.
> 
> The reprieve was short-lived as a flood of shaky kittens pooled around her feet, mewling and crying for attention from the human their mother loved and trusted.
> 
> "Aww, the poor babies can't climb your mean ol' pants," Lucy taunted where the gang had clustered at the fence. Alex just glared and flipped her off. 
> 
> Carefully watching where she put the cane down and shuffling her feet along got her and the kitten entourage over to the bales where she could sit with a groan. Stretching her feet out was invitation to the tiny furry leaches, who clawed their way up her thick pants to walk all over her half-bared torso. Having never made any secret that she had a special affection for the lone tortie in the litter, Alex scooped her up to nuzzle and relish the clumsy feet and kitten kisses.
> 
> "Dear god," Lucy mocked with clear affection. "No ovary is safe with you half naked smiling like that and playing kissy-face with a kitten. You're a monster, Danvers. I'm gonna get the hose."
> 
> Kara just sighed wearily. "The hits are so going to skyrocket when I post this, but jeez, the comments are going to sound like soft-core porn."
> 
> "Pussy loves your sister!" Lucy cackled, laughing all the harder at Kara's disgusted look.
> 
> "Hey, just because some of us need the help of the Gayest Vehicle On Earth isn't my fault."
> 
> While Lucy sputtered and laughed over Alex's zinger, Alex sat up a bit so that she could reach her first cat friend, who had remained patiently waiting and watching. She was vibrating with her purr and rubbed up against the offered hand, happy with pets and gentle scratches.
> 
> "Yes, I missed you too, B. And look at how big your babies have gotten. They're all so beautiful."
> 
> Alex was utterly grateful for the sturdy plastic insert to the brace strapped around her thigh that distributed B's jumping up to little more than a tickle of movement. It would have been embarrassing to be dropped by an eight pound cat and her petite little paws.
> 
> For all that human and cat had started out in opposition, B knew and trusted this one above all the rest of the lumbering monkeys. For the first time she was openly affectionate, even going so far as to headbutt Alex's chin while being petted. 
> 
> After some loving moments, Mama B trilled at her mismatched family and hopped down to corral her kittens around Alex's feet. It was a marvel that she was so relaxed that she just flopped down and let the kittens nurse, all of them flexing their paws and purring. 
> 
> Ignoring the pain of the movement, Alex carefully shifted her feet and leaned over to pet and rub at Mama B, her smile soft.
> 
> "So this seems like as good a time as any for names." The soft smile went wicked. "I'll spare you folks any incidental footage Brainy might have caught of us coming up with names because, well," she paused to rub at her nose, sheepish and faintly pink around the cheekbones. "We might have gotten a little wild."
> 
> Where the rest of the team still hovered at the barrier, a rumble of amusement could be heard.
> 
> Adjusting how she was sitting, Alex moved her petting hand to rub her noisy little favorite. "So the tortie here is my fave. I decided she's going to be Biscotti, because it's cute. Shut up, Lucy."
> 
> Lucy, in the process of rolling her eyes, immediately looked innocent. "What?"
> 
> "You know what you did. Moving on! The two black kittens are a male and a female, so they get to be Batman and Liho. Before you ask, Liho was Black Widow's cat friend in one of the better runs of the comics. The brown tabby with the white trim looks dapper like a three piece suit, but I refuse to have a Tony Stark in my house!"
> 
> The yell made Kara giggle where she was ready to make a sassy comment.
> 
> "So she's going to be Pepper instead. Go on you two, introduce your favorites."
> 
> Sharing a look, Lucy deferred to a very excited Kara with a hand wave. 
> 
> "The cute little white boy with the grey tabby splotches? That's my Stormy and he's a love bug! I already have cute baskets for him to sleep in at the cabin and in my studio and all he'll need is litter boxes and it's gonna be so great!"
> 
> She was dancing with excitement where pressed to the wall of the huge cage, nose on the wire to watch the nursing kittens.
> 
> "And you, hellion?" Alex encouraged wryly and Lucy's smirk was a beautiful thing.
> 
> "The solid tabby goes with the three piece suit theme you started. He's Senator so that I can ignore him or tell him off when he whines, the way I never could in DC!"
> 
> "Ignore her," Alex cheerfully said in the direction of the camera. "She loves the whiny twerp. He already adores her back and says so often."
> 
> "And loudly!" Nia giggled and set the others off to laughing again. 

  
  
I hadn't even realized that back when I started this journey, I had never gone back and finished this video. I remember Lucy's comment about 'playing kissy-face with kittens' and getting the hose, but nothing after that. 

Then I remember the sickening drop the plane took after I had been text-bantering with Sam over the hot redhead. Yep, that would explain it.

Lily is getting twitchy again, but as the next video starts up, I'm ever so glad we made it this far.

The odd title of, 'The Biggest, Grumpiest Dog on the Farm Gets A Haircut. June 10,' makes immediate sense as the scene opens to Lucy standing over Alex seated at the picnic table near the fire pit. 

It's a wobbly phone vid of Lucy poking at Alex's head and firing up a pair of clippers. It's clear that someone has already made a hack-handed attempt at shortening up what has long grown out from the stylish city girl bob.

"Don't squirm or I'll shave you naked."

"You wouldn't dare."

"If you sit the - _beep_ \- still, we won't have to find out how far I'll go, now will we?"

For all her snarking, Lucy's hands are steady and careful as the left moves aside the long strands to start a proper undercut.

"Oooo, your fans are gonna love this," Kara taunts and laughs when, despite the blurring out, it's quite clear that Alex has flipped her off.

"Honey, honey," Maria's voice suddenly breaks in and Lucy instantly gives the woman her full attention, clippers shutting off. Right, she's ex-military too. Tall and imposing, Maria steps in close, but her body language is open and friendly, relaxing Lucy. "If I might interject? Since Alex has decided to give herself the haircut of an experimenting four year old--" Lucy's guffaw is priceless "--I feel I should point out that the look she appears to have been going for was inspired by Carol?"

Sulky and called out, Alex nods.

"Well your cousin's cut is trim and crisp due to my experienced skills."

Before she can say anything further, Lucy just grins and hands over the clippers. Humming thoughtfully, Maria ruffles the reddish brown hair grown brassier in the sun, running her fingers through the ragged lengths.

I want to do that.

"Look what a mess you've made," Maria scolds, but she's clearly amused. "You have the same texture as Carol, but more of a wave to it. You're lucky that Lucy stopped your little temper tantrum when she did."

When Alex grumbles, Maria responds the way any mother would and gives a lock of hair a sharp tweak, smirking smugly at the yelp.

Lucy and Kara die laughing.

"I'll just finish up this close buzz, give you a nice fade, and by the looks of your hack-handed attempts, you're looking to shorten up the whole shaggy mop?"

Alex nods, still a little sullen, but hopeful, and Maria pats her head and fires up the clippers.

"You just give me a little time and you are saved, middle Danvers."

It's clear Brainy arrives with a proper camera and we go into fast-forwards again, which I have to admit is disconcerting, because there is a lot coming off…

Hanks of reddish brown hair fall all around Alex's strong body and several times Kara makes a horrified face and reaches out like she wants to do something to stop the carnage. 

In short order, a neat look appears from the chaos. It's not a sharp undercut like so many famous actresses have been sporting in recent times, but something softer and more enticing. Buzzed nearly to the skin both sides and back, the dark hair lengthens out at Alex's crown, left gradually longer to a cute forelock swept forward to fall not quite into her eyes.

"It feels weird," Alex whines like a cranky child and reaches up like she wants to touch. "And there's still all this long - _beep_ \- in my eyes."

Finally Maria shuts off the clippers and the teeth-chattering buzz is gone.

"Does anyone have a mirror?" she asks dryly and Alex starts to painfully wiggle out from the table as though to stand.

"I'll just go look in the bathroom."

"You sit your - _beep_ \- back down," Maria orders and her voice is a whip-crack of authority. "Don't you sulk at me. You, Doctor Danvers, know perfectly well how much damage a contusion like that does. So shush. We'll find something for you to preen at."

Alex just glares more and earns Maria's driest sarcasm.

"As Mushu would say, 'I think my bunny slippers just ran for cover.'"

The others crack up and Alex tries not to smile, relenting when Carol arrives to admire the haircut, ruffling the shorn strands and sending a cloud of reddish fuzz everywhere to sparkle in the sun.

"Lookin' good, cuz! This works for you and your mutant redhead good looks."

The playful bickering fades away as my brain wanders to delicious fantasies of running my fingers through that adorable forelock and smoothing over that freshly shorn buzz, so I'm not really paying attention when the girls start echoing the talking/bickering onscreen.

"Wait, sorry, what was that?"

They both look a little obstinate and sheepish, which is always a fun combo. Not.

After a moment, Lily sighs dramatically and at least makes an attempt to not whine. Much. "Mama, this is getting boring, and there's new videos we haven't seen. Can we skip ahead?"

While I have no desire to skip nearly the entire summer, particularly after the show of the haircut, the sharing of this experience with my family is far more important.

"Sure thing, sweetie."

> **Well THAT was quite the party! August 30- September 12.  
>  18934 views  
> Rainbow Haven Acres  
> Published on September 16, 2017**
> 
> Excited, Kara took her favorite spot to do static film sequences, on the edge of the road with the village sprawled out behind her, the trees a dramatic, jagged line against the sky. 
> 
> "Hey guys!" she greeted the camera cheerfully, imagining all the people who would be watching this, invisible on the other side of the lens. "We've been so crazy busy that we completely missed last week's vid, sorry about that! So this will be an extra long special one, though totally watchable even though it's two weeks because we didn't get as much footage as usual, because we were getting ready and cleaning up and still had to get all the regular stuff done! And Alex and Carol were making stuff to sit on and some tables and Monica was helping Nia cook for an army and me and Lucy and Maria cleaned up and built fences and made sure everything was safe!"
> 
> Brainy's smirk was telling that she was rambling and Kara realized that she'd failed to make the most important point.
> 
> "Oh, right. Se we're forgoing the usual format this video to show you guys some of the highlights of-- drumroll please." 
> 
> Brainy shrugged and did his best to thrum out the request, even adding in an impression of a tinny high-hat. Kara giggled appreciatively and bowed at her pal.
> 
> "Thank you, Big B! Our first annual open house!"
> 
> The burst of enthusiasm pretty much wiped out her depleted reserves and she felt like she could just lie down here on the packed gravel and fall asleep until next spring. Luckily, she'd already done most of the voiceover work for the segments filmed of the exhilarating and exhausting Labor Day weekend and the weekdays bracketing it on either side. Thankfully, the others had picked up the slack while she spent hours online with Winn to polish up the jumble of footage.
> 
> Yes, it had been insanity to throw themselves into such a big, draining project with only weeks to prepare, but once the idea had been tossed out back in early August, the excitement was contagious. So the whole mess of them had gone into overdrive to get done what they could to make the place look its best.
> 
> And they had pulled it off! Labor Day weekend had been a blast. Exhausting, but a blast. They'd gotten to meet some fans face to face, sell a few items made by their own hands, get some good suggestions and meet more locals.
> 
> It was a great event.

  
  
Identical noises of disappointment make Ruby and Lily sound even more like sisters.

"We missed it," Ruby says quietly. "That sucks."

"Yeah," Lily agrees just as softly. "That would have been really fun."

It's never easy to hear real disappointment in your kids, particularly such subdued, raw emotion. Leaning harder into Sam, I can sense the similar feelings in her, easily translated in her touch on my belly, then on Lily's dark head, the nuzzle to my scalp. 

We four watch our familiar YouTubers setting things up for visitors, jittery with nerves, handfuls of people trickling through over the course of the four-day holiday weekend, caught up despite our disappointment. 

After mostly chronologically binge watching more Rainbow Haven Acres than I would admit to anyone other than maybe Sam, I have been able to witness a most tasty transformation. The city girls started out nicely built, but clearly city girls with their urbanite haircuts and inadequate or squeaky clean new clothes. 

Certainly they were all in good shape, Lucy small and sturdy to the broad-shouldered lankiness of the sisters Danvers, but they were the builds of busy lives and high energy, with maybe some jogging or visiting the gym when there was time.

Then slowly, over months and months, we the viewers got to watch/ogle, as they grew stronger and broader and their wardrobes went rural. Now, here they all are, looking hale and healthy and baked by the summer sun. Lucy looks downright swarthy, her hair grown out even shaggier than Alex's had been before her cut. The butch 'do remains crisp and neatly maintained and I still itch to touch the fine buzz-fade-forelock. The sisters and cousin are dusted in freckles and pale brown amidst the various shades of sunburn, their hair bleached out paler than it had been back in early June.

Seeing them all looking so magnificently fit is heartening. Though there's a part of me that wants to lunge over to Ruby's laptop and slam it shut, because, dear goddess…

Alex had looked magnificently, deliciously lickable early in the summer, hard work and long hours sculpting her into quite the fantasy. But now? She is a sinful feast for the eyes. There is a new depth to the sculpting of her, laid half-bare to the summer heat, her bio-fam adding to the gun show.

There are new animals we see as the camera wanders about. There's an old mule, gray around the muzzle, who whinny-brays the most ridiculous noise back at his humans when they start the sound and is clearly as tame as a dog. His companions in the beautifully greened-up fields are a pair of enormous equines with the most ridiculously enormous ears… that I realize with a shock are donkeys! Massive donkeys that stand taller and leggier than their mule cousin. One is a jet black trimmed in a soft grey while the other is a bit smaller and wildly patterned splotchy black and white and brown.

"I didn't even know they grew them that big," Sam marvels and we all nod in agreement.

Way off in the distance, at the far end of the pastures that were once scrubby, weedy and not so appealing, the familiar alpacas peacefully graze in beautifully green grass, Jerkbutt presiding over them. Among them are three brown ostriches, their ridiculous necks and heads bobbing as they eat grass and hunt bugs. There is notably no black and white male with them.

A few handfuls of sheep are scattered amidst the familiar, two of which turn out to be large white dogs. And mixed into the pleasant sight, a pair of the tiniest, hairiest little donkeys any of us have ever seen. They make hilariously squat, poofy contrast amidst ostrich, alpaca and the indifferent Jerkbutt. 

"Those are so cute!" Lily squeals in delight and Ruby laughs and nods.

"I didn't even know donkeys came that small. I bet you that Kara squealed over them too."

"Probably scared them!"

The girls cackle together and my heart melts over their reawakened joy. They're so resilient and adaptable that nothing seems to hold them down for long.

Watching the rest of the open house footage becomes more wistful than sad, all of us marveling over the new infrastructure. 

The most impressive structure sprawls out behind the big red barn, nearly twice its length, but only half its height in contrast. Even from a distance, it's clear that the lower barn isn't new, the metal and wood weathered, no paint to hide the sins. It must be one of the old buildings from the abandoned farm all those months ago. In fact, I'd bet that's the disgusting chicken barn! I had wondered what happened to that huge thing.

The new-old barn is crowded close to the neatly-trimmed forest edge that lets the pond sparkle through the foliage. The pair of barns are now the hub of an intricate web of fences that seem overly elaborate to me. I wonder what the purpose could be?

The drone footage also reveals a pen near the low barn where small brown figures mill about.

"Oh my gosh," Lily squeals. "Look! They've got ostrich babies!"

Ruby pauses the video and we all squint at the terrible angle of the animals, deciding that Lily must be right.

"Weird," is Ruby's opinion. "Why'd they get more?"

Remembering seeing ostrich meat highlighting dishes in some restaurants, I wisely keep my mouth shut. 

A long, slow pan across the village gets an impressed sound from Ruby and another pause in the action. "Check it out, Lils. They've done a lot!"

Sure enough, where the tent once stood, there's a proper clubhouse, tall and elegant. It's impressive to be honest, half again the size of the bathhouse it compliments as though they have always been a single structure. Both are skinned in shingles painted a warm green to compliment the blue roof. Filling out the 'L' shape the pair of them make is a massive trough big enough to fill a semi-truck. It's been worked right into the narrow strip of deck running between it and the clubhouse and is half full of sparkling water.

"That's an impressive pool," Ruby admires. "Bet they were glad to have it, huh?"

The forest seems to be trimmed back here too, not crowding their village so much. Grass has grown in corners and walkways around beds of flowers and pathways of gravel. 

The fire pit has expanded, big enough for a decent bonfire now and penned in by a thick ring of stacked landscape blocks. Steel posts poke up here and there, a variety of cross arms and grates and hooks attached to them. Perhaps for cooking?

The stock tank pool has a proper deck ringing it, clearly constructed of yet more of the seemingly endless supply of plastic/wood boards that made the enormous village deck. It also composes the top of a couple new picnic tables, held up by thick, raw chunks of branches assumedly from the trimmed forest. 

Speaking of trimmed trees, several massive firs sprawl around the fire pit, roughly chopped into benches and lined in yet more deck board.

There are fences and a sea of concrete and grass around the saloon-barn and the green house. The woodshed on the yurt has been upgraded with a fence and roof, and where there had once been only trees, a crisply new cabin has joined the village. It takes up the large new clearing on the other side of the back road close to the yurt and green house.

The cabin is made of stacked logs so perfect I suspect they're specifically cut that way. It has a nice porch and sits atop a low stone foundation and has a lawn so new it has to have been sod. A new length of gravel road vanished over a low rise, heading back to the county road that is the front of the property. 

The drone rising up reveals a wing as large as the main structure just off the back of the cabin, as well as something more shed-sized and close by is a structure with a double garage door front.

As Maria, Carol and Monica are still notably with the farm crew, I bet they decided to stay for good and that cabin and its attending buildings are now home.

The video shifts to a different aerial shot of a spectacular sunset blazing over the distant Cascade Mountains with the Willamette Valley a vast pool of shadow between.

"Spectacular," Sam murmurs against my scalp and I murmur warmly in agreement.

"It hardly looks real."

The drone drops slowly to the ground, the trees swallowing up the sunset and firelight replacing the glow. All the gang is there, sprawled around a blazing fire. It's so strange to see so many bodies, the Rambeau family and Maggie nearly doubling their numbers. The couples cuddle, Monica mostly asleep in Carol's lap just as Kara does with Alex. The latter has to share the real estate with a splotchy brown and white hound snuggled up to Alex, head resting adoringly on her belly where she is slouched sloppily into one of the log benches, petting dog and sister alike. There is also a smaller dog, a brown mutt with a goofy grin that sticks to Lucy like a burr.

Their conversation is a low buzz and raucous laughter bursts from them in that infectious energy that is irresistible. As has become familiar, I wish I could be there with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shatterpath- oh, here's the example I found for FarmAlex that made me think of that this will be in the summer after Maria cuts her hair for her, to match Carol's. -chuckle- the model even bears a passing resemblance, so win there!  
> mandylynnw- Yes love. So good for farm Alex.  
> shatterpath- ironically, the really exaggerated undercuts have been taken over by The Straights, so the faded faux-pompadour it is! and she can still slick it back Director danvers style  
> mandylynnw- I know they have. I hate it.
> 
> shatterpath- and she can still sweep it backward to go more businesslike. Not that anyone on the farm cares!  
> slugger35- She'd prolly want it shorter in the back. I always keep mine at like a 1/4 of an inch in summer cuz farm work is hot!  
> shatterpath- i hadn't actually noticed that model had it longer in the back, you're right!  
> slugger35- It's funny you mention that cuz mine is similar and I pretty much have to style it. Every day or it's in my way  
> shatterpath- she's inspired by Cousin Carol's do, and wears very warm hats in winter. Carhartt is a running theme  
> slugger35- she's gonna need a neck gaiter for winter too. Take it from a Wisconsin girl when your neck gets cold you get cold  
> shatterpath- point! I have Sara's business is doing death-march wilderness survival trips into the back country, so she knows her layers well. She'll keep them stocked when she visits  
> slugger35- And they come in different designs!


	13. The Quirks of Children

> **Makin' hay! September 13-19.  
>  19874 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on September 23, 2017**
> 
> September pretended to still be summer for nearly two weeks before a chilly morning sent the team scrambling for flannels and light sweatshirts. Fog clung to the treetops and crept along field and road, making the world feel close and quiet.
> 
> There were the usual murmurs of good morning as they all converged into the tent for coffee and a snack to fuel them up until a proper breakfast. The various animals in their care were already sending up their racket in response to their humans up and about.
> 
> But there was always time to give one another crap.
> 
> As they headed back out into the warming morning, the sun was slowly gaining a foothold and it was one of the more gorgeous mornings in many months of them. Knowing that Kara had been up late helping doing voiceover work with Winn and Brainy --who was half asleep behind his ubiquitous camera-- Alex had to poke at her.
> 
> "So when are you going to quit this YouTube silliness and get a real job?" she teased and Kara's response was a tart one that Brainy could kick himself for not getting in frame.
> 
> "Alex, you big jerk, you literally quit a lucrative career as an emergency room doctor to move to the boonies and shovel shit. Shoot! I mean poop! Shovel poop."
> 
> Alex laughed uproariously and mocked, "I think that might be the first time Winn is gonna have to bleep you out!"
> 
> "You're a bad influence!"
> 
> All the more amused by Kara's pout, Alex mimicked it and crossed her arms comically tightly to mock her.
> 
> What none of them expected was the sound of rending cloth.
> 
> Jumping as though scalded, Alex spun in place like a dog trying to get an itch. That woke Brainy up and he shifted to keep the whole thing in his sights.
> 
> Lucy, predictably, was nearly doubled over laughing. "Jesus Danvers, I know you've been amused as hell that you've put on like fifteen pounds of solid muscle, but you didn't have to rip out the back of your favorite flannel to prove it!"
> 
> Shrugging the offending shirt off, Alex glared at the split where the back panel met the shoulders, big enough to get two hands into. In retaliation for Lucy's laughter, she jerked up the front edge of her t-shirt to smack her own flat, muscled belly. "Not a soft city girl anymore!" 

"Jesus, look at that V… Why am I suddenly craving lean bacon?" Sam mutters and I choke on a laugh. She certain isn't wrong, because, whew, I am absolutely going back to this scene once the girls have headed out to return to school!

> "Oh baby, slap it! You could do less family friendly videos now!"
> 
> Alex might have three inches on Lucy, but there was no catching her as they jetted across the pasture towards the chicken coop.
> 
> "Dammit, I liked that shirt!"
> 
> While Brainy certainly didn't really get the randy appeal the two held over their viewers, he had no problems ruthlessly indulging the oglers for hits. And this one was going to be a hit. 
> 
> Suspecting there was more shenanigans to be had, he lowered the camera and double-timed it down to the coop to catch Alex, sans shirt, doing silly bodybuilder poses while Lucy rolled around in the grass, screaming with laughter. The purple sportsbra stood out against pale skin and colorful tattoos, leaving nothing to the imagination of just how much working muscle Alex had packed on.
> 
> Pleased with herself, Alex smirked at the camera and said dryly, "oops, we better stop having fun or the trolls will scream at us."
> 
> Which meant, of course, that she had to get in one more good pose, grinning wickedly over a shoulder round with bunched muscle. 

Kara's disembodied voice speaks over the mouth-watering display and her exasperation is clear. "Did you have to put up Alex showing off shirtless again?"

Brainy's reply is so innocent I almost fall for it. 

"I thought Alex was merely practicing her sarcasm. Was it incorrect to release that footage?" 

Well played, good sir.

It takes some effort to ignore Ruby's speculative stare, but we're fairly good at it… normally. I swear if Sam doesn't stop tickling at what she knows is a hotspot around my damn bellybutton…

I might have to take a screenshot of Alex posing with arms flexed and the muscles of her back in stark relief for my phone background for a bit. 

Meanwhile, we're given a break as the scene changes to the gang using some tractor-driven doohickey. It shears off acres of lush grass close to the ground and a fast-forward shows it drying in the sun for several cycles of night and day.

They shift to talking about the action on screen, where yet different equipment has come out. Some conglomeration of spindly bicycle-like wheels tipped with hooks whips the now-dry grass into long rows is being towed behind the little John Deere tractor. Behind that comes the big Kubota and a beefier trailer with a dangerous-looking infeed and a chute like a tail. Piled grass goes in and rectangular bales drop off the back.

"It looks like rabbit poops," Lily giggles to all of our amusement.

It's clearly hot, sweaty work even with the help of the tractors and there is plenty of manual labor going on. None more so than the now-ripped Alex and the equally ripped blonde cousins hoisting bales and thumping them down onto a flatbed trailer pulled by the two enormous donkeys.

It's impressive by anyone's standards.

The scene shifts to the now-complete clubhouse where most of the fam is horsing around near the kitchen. We'd gotten little more than enticing glances of all the new infrastructure and the interior is a pleasant shock. The kitchen is warm and cozy, the cabinets all in white bead board with a rebuilt antique range in a cheerful blue. There's an L-shaped island of countertops into which snuggles a banquette and a table made of weathered wood. Large windows are full of dark night as the camera pans around to show a fireplace and entertainment center, both dark, and the couch from the tent.

On which Lucy is pretzeled up into a tense knot around a laptop, her expression a riot of worry. Alex approaches her and they chat about something, clearly serious, before Lucy forces a smile and shoos Alex off. A voiceover of Alex's smooth tones fills us in.

"So, it was too loud to pick up our voices, but Lucy is telling me that we definitely don't have enough hay for the winter after the mouths we've added. The drawbacks of unexpected rescues, unfortunately. Turns out she'd applied for a loan, but was rejected, so we're going to be putting everyone's combined brainpower towards a solution. It would kill all of us to have to give up any of our grass-munching pals, as we're really attached to all of them, even the dumb sheep."

There's no mistaking the worry and fondness in Alex's voice. With a deep breath, her tone brightens.

"In the meantime, you can see by my grin that I have a date and she shooed me off with the expected filthy comments, because what are best friends for?"

"Hmm, I agree," Sam whispers against my ear and any brief respite I've gained is shot to hell. It's rare that I'm in a rush to shoo the girls off to return to school, but can it be seven o'clock already?

"Moms? You don't think they really had to get rid of some of the animals, do you?"

It's cute how worried Lily is, those near-black eyes beseeching me.

"I'll tell you what, baby, let's leave a comment and see if they answer, okay?"

Always the good big sister, Ruby has once again paused for Lily to speak her worries, though she looks at Sam and I with a sardonic smirk that I know she learned from me.  
  


> LL Not-Your-Neck-Of-The-Woods 1 minute ago  
>  Hi. My name is Lily and I hope that you can keep all of your animals! I don't have a pet, but if I did I would be so sad to lose them. My mama says that I can ask you if there is any news?
> 
> \----
> 
> Pleasantly loose from a long night in the sheets, Alex prepped coffee and crispy toast made from the amazing rustic, chunky bread Anita made down at the bakery. In addition to her lovely self being present for their irregular dates, Daphne always showed up with a few food gifts.
> 
> For all of the acting veteran's odd manners and diva ways --a product of being in the spotlight since she was a small child-- Daphne knew that sucking up was never a bad thing. And while she rarely saw any of Team Lanvers outside of bumping into them in town, it didn't hurt to bring a little gift Alex could share.
> 
> Besides, she got breakfast out of it.
> 
> "You're a gift, hot stuff," Daphne announced breezily as she strode into the kitchen, fluffing up her luxurious hair. There was no evidence of the petulant grouch she was upon awakening in her miraculously put-together appearance, a near-flawless transition. A blessing and curse of being in front of the camera her whole life, no doubt.
> 
> A little coffee and toast and casual conversation filled their small window of time before heading their separate ways. Then it was dirty mugs in the sink, light jackets grabbed, the door closed behind them as they both breathed deep of the crisp morning air.
> 
> "Oh shucks, looks like your posse caught me out," Daphne purred and Alex barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes. The younger woman was good fun, but the payment was a bit of drama. At least it was harmless drama. Playing it up, Daphne used her greater height to press Alex against the door to be kissed hotly before making her grand exit. "See you around, stud."
> 
> Murmuring her own farewell, Alex stretched and shook herself out. Half expecting Daphne to wave to the camera, Alex watched her walk away. Certainly the view was no hardship! 

We can't see more than a pair of figures off in the distance, wrapped up in a big hug that clearly involved a long, slow kiss against the blue door of the green house. The image of them may only be the height of a quarter, but there's no missing it. Farewell made, the willowy, curvy brunette pats Alex's cheek and saunters away with a toss of long, dark hair over her shoulder. One doesn't have to see her triumphant grin to know it's there.

Lucy's voice teases, "nosy," before the camera moves away with Brainy's embarrassed mumble. Sam chuckles eerie counterpoint to Lucy onscreen and once again mouths my neck.

"Well, if that's her type, she'll love you," Sam teases softly and just laughs when I gasp in outrage and try to squirm away. Still, I allow her to catch me, pull me into her lanky body for sweet kisses flavored with the rumble of her stifled laughter.

She's a brat, but I wouldn't have her any other way.  
  


> More than ready for breakfast, the team reconvened back at the village after morning feeding and spot-checking the critters. 
> 
> "She stayed over? That's a first," Kara snarked as Alex sauntered towards them. Lucy was amused as always at Kara's disgust with her sibling's exploits.
> 
> "Hey, just be glad the insulation works for sound too."
> 
> Before Kara could haul off and punch her in the arm, Lucy danced away to intercept her bestie.
> 
> "'Bout fucking time you got your ass in gear, Danvers," Lucy snarked with unholy glee. "Still sleeping with the actress? Diva."
> 
> "Hey, she knows what she likes."
> 
> Arrogant had always been a good look on Alex.
> 
> "I never took you for a trophy butch."
> 
> That one hit too close, and Alex looked startled and even a little offended, Lucy immediately backing down so that she didn't get her head bit off.
> 
> "Your spindly fluffs grouched at me feeding them."
> 
> Alex decided that she would take the peace offering of the neutral subject. "You're too intense for them, terror."
> 
> Honking the horn of her completely out-of-place, powder blue classic Mustang convertible, Daphne was off, back to her life in town.
> 
> "Tough early retirement," Lucy commented wryly and Alex only chuckled. She knew she should say something about the date or Winn would cry that she wasn't giving him enough material and the comments would complain about it. Since he was nice enough to only forward the interesting or funny ones, they tried to indulge in turn for the grunt work. So she looked very seriously at the camera.
> 
> "It was a very nice date," was intoned with all the earnest flatness of a first-time politician. "We had a little too much to drink and the nice lady stayed over so that she didn't have to drive."
> 
> It was almost enough to cover up the leer in her voice and dancing in the corner of her mouth, but Winn wasn't going to be able to use the rest of it anyway, because Lucy sounded like a dying animal with her efforts not to laugh or join in.
> 
> Breakfast was next and with warm, full bellies, the crew set about on a task nearly overdue. Doing her best to act as though this were a day like any other, Alex sauntered towards the barn, almost immediately set upon by her cat family. They whined and cried hungrily and did their best to trip her up, so nothing out of the ordinary. 
> 
> Unfortunately, Liho was missing.
> 
> Well, there was more than one way to entice a cat! Opening the door to her shop, Alex shooed the furry horde in, but didn't close up behind them. Today, she was going to have to play dirty and that meant a can of the stinkiest wet food.
> 
> The Chorus of the Starving rose to a wail, the kittens leaping and scratching at the pedestal worktable built specifically to make it hard for them to get onto. Thankfully, the racket attracted the missing sibling, who dove in as Alex set down her two trays and their baker's half-dozen little bowls. Then she could casually saunter over to the door and quickly close it.
> 
> Let the games begin.
> 
> Later, Alex would be amused and humiliated to watch herself chase wiggly kittens all over her shop. At least she'd thought ahead to clean up the clutter and close off the back room, choked with supplies and crap in deep storage. Batman got plucked right off his meal, yowling as much about missing the last couple mouthfuls as being ambushed. Biscotti, Stormy and Senator were too habituated to their humans to do more than whine as they were gently shoved into carriers and locked up. Mama B crouched under a work table and watched with wide eyes as the last two daughters gave Alex a challenge.
> 
> Liho was like trying to catch a shadow, and Alex was really trying to make this as non-dramatic as possible. Thankfully, the black kitten overestimated her abilities and was plucked off the wooden barn support she tried to climb. That left only Pepper, the tabby as smart as her namesake. She managed to find a tiny spot to huddle in and no amount of coaxing would get her out. Mama B sniffed at the cage doors where her half-grown babies cried and carried on while Alex sighed and accepted that she was going to have to bleed for the little fuckers.
> 
> At least Pepper only clawed and didn't bite as she was scruffed and dragged from her hiding spot. The last cat-carrier door was clipped shut behind her stripy tail and Alex sighed over the twin sets of thinly bloody furrows on her right hand.
> 
> "Ouch," was the blasé response and she glared affectionately at Pepper, Batman and Liho. No matter that they'd been held and coddled and fussed over since birth, the trio were barncats to their bones.
> 
> Mama B had scampered away again, not part of this operation. She'd been spayed as soon as she started to push away the kittens from nursing.
> 
> Satisfied with the accomplishment of corralling the energetic bunch, Alex grabbed two carriers to be taken out to the Subaru. That brought Kara running and soon the back of the SUV was full of crying kittens. After a pause for Alex to wash out her war wounds and let Nia fuss over them for a bit with antibiotic cream and gauze, it was off to the veterinarian. 
> 
> The sisters were gone much of the day as they had to drive nearly to Salem to get all six kittens in without a hassle. And while Alex fretted over handing her beloved furballs off to strangers, the deed had to be done.
> 
> Then it was some shopping, because a trip close to the city couldn't be wasted, and back home again. Tomorrow, they would reverse the process and bring the drowsy kittens home in their cones of shame.
> 
> Meanwhile, the rest of the gang had kept up their half of the task, Alex and Kara delighted when they saw it
> 
> "Damn, guys, it looks great!"
> 
> 'It' was a block of kennels built of chainlink fence and old barnwood where the kittens could recover separated from, but close to their siblings. Old bits of siding made for a makeshift roof and scrubbed up chicken boxes lined in fresh hay a cozy place to hide. Each kitten had a improvised litter tray behind a little door and a pair of dishes for food and water. Electric netting had been set up with a fresh car battery to power the thing to give any hungry predator a nasty shock. Alex hugged Lucy and a giggling Nia before ruffling Brainy's hair affectionately.
> 
> "Thanks for this. It should keep them safe while they heal up."
> 
> Kara chimed in, "even if they're going to complain!"
> 
> Afternoon dawdled towards evening, that lovely time of day when most tasks were done or set aside, only the final feeding and locking up the animals left. Completely amused at something, Nia urged Brainy to grab his gear and head out to the far pasture.
> 
> He didn't even hesitate.
> 
> Brainy had no idea what was going on, or how it started, but he was certainly going to get what he could recorded!
> 
> Brainy had fallen into this strange life in a roundabout way. The youngest in a family as nuts as any supervillain coven in a comic book, he had somehow come out okay. Certainly he was a bit stiff and formal, but his was a childhood of hard lessons on how to not draw attention to himself. 
> 
> He hadn't needed to work, easily living an average life on the interest accrued on his family's blood money. He was far to disgusted to touch it even if he could outmaneuver the life-sucking lawyers or the scattered chaff of his bloodline sniffing after the fortune. But they couldn't touch the money either and that was good enough for him. Wanting to give something back to the world his bloodline had tried to destroy, he'd girded himself and… gotten a job.
> 
> If he hadn't met Kara and Winn that very first day, he would have crawled back into isolation for the sheer shock and terror of the busy Catco building downtown. But Kara had been all smiles and utterly unfazed by his quiet and wide-eyed terror, getting him through first day bullshit like a pro and delivering him personally to Winn down in I.T.
> 
> From then on, they'd been his 'posse', helping him navigate the fraught world of those who would not understand him; those that seemed intent on not understanding any of them. They'd spent every moment of the workday they could together, prowled the food scene and played videogames on their days off, become the best of friends. They'd gotten through rough days at the office, broken hearts, figuring out what sort of people they were, searched out and embraced their own labels.
> 
> He'd willingly helped Kara when she started making her food videos, even coming up with the classic 'Ka-Pow' as inspired by the nerdy posters and toys all over Winn's office. When some forays into independent video games and the YouTube channel started paying off, Brainy had followed his friends to a life away from the security of the corporate shell.
> 
> Through the urban jungle of Los Angeles to the wilds of the Oregon Mountains, he couldn't imagine being with anyone else. That Winn was so far away made no difference, the internet kept them in communication as often as they liked.
> 
> As Brainy trotted across the lush grassy pasture with camera and tripod in hand, Kara straightened up from where she had been doubled over laughing. Alex was sprawled out on her belly, gesturing at a chicken. He recognized the animal, the one the others called, 'Crazy White Chicken'. So far, the large hen had escaped all attempts at capture, wandering where she would around the farm.
> 
> Currently, she was cocking her head this way and that at whatever Alex was doing. 
> 
> "Augh! It's a space T-Rex! Run for your liiiiiiiiiiiives!"
> 
> Well, that was not at all what Brainy had expected.
> 
> This was clearly Alex-In-A-Mood who had apparently found some antique Star Wars figures somewhere and was enticing CWC to play by waggling the toys at her. Kara shook her head in exasperation, but her expression was soft. "I swear to everything good and fluffy in this world, you are an embarrassment. What do women see in you again?"
> 
> "Hey!" Alex yelped as the hen expertly plucked the Han Solo figure from her fingers and gave it a violent shake. Disgusted with the plastic deception, Crazy White Chicken threw the toy down and stalked away. 
> 
> "Stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder!" Kara shouted the iconic Star Wars line and Alex rolled onto her back to scowl playfully.
> 
> "Who's scruffy-looking?"
> 
> Their cackling laughter was as pure as the sunshine. 
> 
> Attracted to their monkeys being out in the fields and not busy, several of the alpaca approached, one particularly burly reddish-buff one leaning down to sniff at Alex's face. She just smiled with no teeth and blew a friendly breath at the animal. Satisfied, the 'paca aligned herself to Alex's prone body and neatly folded up her legs just like her camel cousins to sink down into a neat cush. Alex 'ack'ed as the mass of fluff settled into her cat-loaf pose, leaning heavily on her human caretaker. 
> 
> While Alex spluttered and squealed at being half squished by an animal that weighed more than she did, Kara slowly crumpled to the grass, laughing too hard to stand. Brainy had to snap the camera into the tripod to cover the shakes of his quiet amusement. It took a minute, but Kara got some breath back, crawling over to smoosh her sister's other side and hug the alpaca's long neck.
> 
> "Good girl. You nearly smothered the big idiot." 

Video over and not wanting the girls to dwell on the potential fate of the farm animals, Sam slithers away from where she's been mostly pinned by my lax body. With an evil grin, she crouches and the girls scatter like pigeons.

This is not unusual and I'd rather a trashed apartment and happy family than decorum. After my rigid upbringing, their constant chaos is like air to me. I soak it up for the quieter days when our daughters are away at school, as does Sam.

Ah, my Sam, who sometimes seems more hyperactive mutt than my life partner. All that fiery energy exhausts her sometimes, and romping with the girls gives her a joy like nothing else.

Though I'm hoping to make a different sort of use of that liveliness later…

Daddy had hunting dogs when I was a child. Floppy-eared hounds with alert eyes and a boundless energy that could be laser focused for hours at learned tasks or frenetic play until they dropped. That's my Sam. 

Ruby didn't inherit that from her, more a child of sharp mind and even sharper wits like I am. Lily on the other hand, might as well be Sam's biological daughter at how alike they are! Squealing and roaring, the mongrels rumpus about the depths of the apartment to the music of Ruby's laughter. 

Nothing will ever feel more like home than this. 

Breathless and flushed from laughing so hard, Ruby eventually wanders back to me, hands busily smoothing back her hair into a ponytail. She smiles at me where I'm pondering what to do for dinner to distract me from my simmering hormones.

"Hey Mama, need a hand?"

"I'd be delighted. I'm debating on what to do with this roast. There isn't time for a slow cook. Any ideas?"

We chat over ideas as we dig through the fridge and pantry to round out the meal. There's plenty to choose from. I can afford to eat like royalty, but I had more than enough of eating like that. We're a simpler family with more ordinary tastes and I love that. However, I insist on the best raw ingredients being brought to me or sourcing them myself. One of my criteria of the schools that received the honor of teaching my daughters was the quality of their meal program. 

Eventually the squealing takes on a different timbre and I trade a wry look with Ruby who chuckles, "bath time."

"Bath time."

Sure enough, Sam wanders out at few minutes later, wet to her elbows and splashes on her shirt. She's a mess, clothes askew, hair a rat's nest, face flushed. She looks joyous and delectable.

"I swear she is convinced she'll melt in the damn bath!"

Ruby, a proper New Yorker, bursts into a rendition of 'The March of the Witch Hunters' from Wicked. As we've seen the musical many times, she gets the laughter she's after.

By the time the apartment is full of the smells of good things to eat, Lily flounces out in a fluffy towel and carrying another, sodden hair straggling everywhere. Sam just grins and opens her arms for a hug, not caring in the slightest that she's getting wet all over again. This is near-tradition, one of us rubbing the extra towel over the wild black strands then gently plying the brush that had been hidden in its folds. Quick and gentle, the mane is tamed and plaited into a neat braid. With an affectionate swat, Sam sends Lily off to get some clothes on while the table is set.

Sunday family dinners are tradition, but there's always an edge of melancholy. For when the meal is done, it's back to boarding school for the girls. But that's exactly why it's so important and we all look forward to it.

Even if it always goes by too fast.

Then is the familiar scramble for bags and crushing hugs and murmured I love yous and the quiet left behind.

While a big part of me still wants to throw Sam against the door and kiss her senseless, we need to adjust to the change in energies. It's gotten far harder with Lily gone too.

In the manner of longtime partnerships, we know what we need both together and apart. Sam kisses my temple and heads for the kitchen while I go to the couch to straighten it up. The neatness isn't… soothing exactly, but it's unlike the chaos of the girls, allowing us to inhabit the space differently. 

It only takes a few moments and I sit to tuck my knees up under my chin. There are many days when I question boarding school being the best choice for all of us. The separation is hard, but in a great many respects, worse for me and Sam. Even Lily is adapting and she's only been at this for five weeks! 

Sam joins me with a large glass of a deeply red brew that I unwind to accept from her so that she can take her usual spot on the chaise part of the couch. The blood red wine tastes wonderful and rich, soaking up the lump in my throat and easing my tense belly. Really, it's too good a blend to chug like cheap crap, but I hardly care.

Needing the comfort and wanting to provide the same, I hand the glass back and twist around to snuggle closely to her lanky body. Her encircling arm holds me just as tightly as she works her way through the rest of the glass of wine.

Neither of us moves, but remain in our cuddle, watching the shadows reach and shift. Evenings close in slowly in summer, but like any part of New York City, it's rarely truly dark. In time, Sam's phone thrums and she wiggles around to pull it out.

"Lily's safe," she murmurs softly, the words not breaking the hush. More time ticks by in the shadows and reddening sun, time meaningless until the phone hums again. "And Ruby."

Only then does most of the stress leave us. Our children are ostensibly safer in the walls of their schools than in a moving car. And with the bleeding away of that tension, a different one returns.

It's cute how Sam blinks back from whatever distant place her mind had gone as I abruptly uncoil and stand to stretch. When she moves to do the same, I pin her with a glare.

"Stay."

Oh, I love that slightly baffled look, sometimes tinged with annoyance when I get bossy. Pleased with the theme, I straddle her knees and scoot forward to press into her heavily. I take advantage of my superior position to kiss her, long and slow.

"Did I tell you how much I missed you?"

My question is little more than a hum of words and Sam's smile is toothy. "Lena, you've been home for nearly a week."

Ignoring the teasing tone, I lean back in the circle of her arms to slide my hands down the middle of her torso, splitting under her breasts to worm into the warmth trapped between her back and the cushions. Watching those hazel-green eyes change is a delight I am by no means tired of. Tugging her shirt loose from her shorts, I smooth my hands over the small of her back, scratching lightly.

"Did I show you how much I missed you?"

It's both eternally sweet and a little sad at how she always seems a little surprised at my attention. No matter the solace and comfort we bring one another, some scars are never truly forgotten. Still, after that moment of, 'oh, hello," she grins dopily and lets me skim her shirt over her head.

Words are superfluous for however long we sit there and kiss, coaxing clothing loose and once again going over blissfully familiar territory. There's a giggle-inducing and utterly awkward tango of me waddling backward down the chaise while she scootches after me. I squeak in small alarm as she gently crashes into me, clamping me to her leanness to prevent a fall.

"Y'know, it's a shame I'm not strong enough to carry you to the bed," Sam muses as she nips along my neck. Love bites turn into a wicked grin and a rumble of amusement in her chest. "I bet Alex could."

Dammit, those four words send a storm of ideas and randy hormones blasting through me. When I squirm to get away, she clamps me hard in those long arms.

"Now, hold up, sexy. Go with it. She'd be so strong, those rough hands hard on your ass, your legs wrapped around all those firm muscles up against your thighs and pussy, hmmm? Gonna rub against that belly so hard, aren't you? Those abs soft and hard, flexing and those calloused fingers deep inside 'til you see stars."

Luckily for my poor hormones, she's added action to storytelling and her hands dig in hard to my ass to help me rub one out, it's enough in my state.

I'd be embarrassed at how fast the orgasm smashes over me if she hadn't been teasing me all weekend. And if this illicit crush on Alex Danvers didn't push every button I have.

"Brat," I say conversationally and give her hair a yank. "I should just leave you smug and horny."

Her laugh, once more easy and warm, is every bit as wonderful as the sex. "Hey, smug and horny is good for business. Why don't you go enjoy a nice bath while I check on the bread and butter, hmm?"

Knowing that if I jump her now she'll never have the mental or physical capacity to get down to the club, I sigh dramatically and start getting to wobbly feet. "If I must. Hope you can make it back, babe."

Not caring in the slightest that I'm shirtless and probably sporting a few small hickies, I hold up my loosened shorts and sashay away to my bath. Her wistful comment that trails after me feels like a caress.

"Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was SO good to finally really delve into Lena and Sam here. Not just the quickie, but the intimacy of their dynamic. A long established pair has such different energies. I feel like I know them better now, and I'm so delighted to have Sam as part of the chaos of muses in my head!
> 
> shatterpath: in heavy winter gear and working insane hours, she barely notices for the first couple months. then, I dunno, like rips her favorite buttonup or something. Lucy cackling she's gonna have to go up a shirt size for those arms  
> mandylynnw: Puts on her favorite button up, crosses her arms, and it rips right down the back.


	14. Almost I Love You

A long, relaxing bath feels heavenly. An excellent use of my time. There's no point in rushing, as Sam prowling the club will take at least an hour. It's that or an all-nighter, there's little to no middle ground. Still, a girl can hope for the former. 

Fluffy towels wick away moisture and I pull out my exclusive blend of botanical oil I have made in a little boho boutique in Brooklyn specifically to be non-offensive to a lover's sense of taste. It's expensive and luxurious and makes me smell like a warm garden in summer, if I don't say so myself. Every square inch from the neck down is oiled up, right to edge of the nethers. That stays au-naturale, thank you very much. 

Taking care of some other grooming lets the light oil soak in and I reach for my light bathrobe, pausing when I hear a noise.

Oh goody! No robe it is then.

By the time Sam frames herself in the bedroom doorway, I'm maintaining a negligent lean against the corner by the bathroom. 

Still in her 'work clothes' which today is a Burberry Check plaid men's-style shirt with the sleeves rolled up, comfy skinny jeans and boots that hover between Harley-Davidson and 'shit-kicker', she looks sexy and ready to brawl. Also, the half up, messy bun she'd pulled her hair into before heading down to the club is still intact. Good, that means I can be reasonably certain she's not a complete unhygienic mess, or her hair would be all over the place from restless fingers. Let the games begin!

Eyes hot and interested, Sam advances, her muscles tense enough to make her body language stalking as a lanky cat.

"Now, hold on there, Romeo," I tease, testing the waters, and lo and behold, Sam actually obeys. We give and take in all facets of our lives together and sex is no different. "I have to say, I like you like this, looking lean and hungry."

There's every reason to reward my Sammy's compliance and a long, slow kiss with my hands on her wrists in gentle restraint is pure pleasure. A few tugs has her at the edge of the bed where I can give her a shove to bounce down onto the soft surface. Oh, how I love that bamboozled look on her face, her sharp, analytical mind shutting down in a flood of horny brain chemicals. Before she can move, I bossily straddle her, trapping her arms against her sides and giving her a hell of a view. 

"You know, I've never been strong enough to wrestle you down," I muse conversationally as though I don't have her happily trapped between my thighs. I watch her face change as I smile slow and predatory. "I bet Alex could."

It's a deliberate choice of words, echoing her teasing me earlier, building up that quick, hot fantasy. I mostly like a dominant lover, but sometimes, a girl just needs to mix things up a bit, keep it spicy. Sam likes it, even if she habitually squirms and fights her own delight.

This time, I've caught her off guard. Delicious.

Flicking my hair off to one side, I lean over her, pressing my whole upper body weight onto her shoulders.

"You can't fool me, Samantha," is little more than a soft, provoking whisper in her ear. "All that hardworking farm muscle has you a little hot and bothered too."

Someone less familiar with her might mistake Sam's often blasé attitude as vague disinterest. God knows she's been disappointed by others in and out of the sack, but I know her language better than anyone.

That little tremor and the faintest of catch in her breath is all the encouragement I need.

"She's so strong, hmmm? You'd never be able to squirm away. Maybe she'd let you grab those sculpted arms, or hang from her shoulders while she fucked you. Oh, but would it be that easy? You might have to convince her, whine and beg a little, because you certainly couldn't make her do anything."

Yep, I've got her now, a faint whine strangled in her throat like a siren song! Very pleased with myself, I slither down her body a bit and casually get to work on her shirt buttons, ignoring the twitch of her hands trapped under me.

"I see you even went for the right theme today. This rugged look is sexy on you."

Halfway down, I pause to give her a sly look, not at all fooled by her innocent look.

"No bra, Sammy? Naughty."

A quick caress and a pinch to those perky tits makes her hips jump, before I return to the buttons. 

"You're cute when you fight how you want it, baby, but you know I'll take good care of you."

Sam is one of the strongest people I know, despite her scars, and I am happy to reassure her when the opportunity is there. Particularly when she lets herself be vulnerable, which isn't often. Caressing her flat belly, I test the waters out a bit more.

"We could have so much fun, hmm? My soft and your lean to that sturdy workhorse of a farmer and her rough hands…"

I'm getting myself all hot and bothered too. The plaid shirt is finally loose and I yank at it, tuck it carefully around Sam's arms to trap her. Oh, if she wants to get away, she can, but that's not really the point here, is it?

Pressing onward, I give her a hard pinch through the thick cotton of her jeans, relishing the way her hips jump and she whines needily. I've run out of words and roughly yank open her jeans and strip her to her knees. Her cries are as good as the thick, sticky wet of her I relish.

There's no point in being gentle and my neck and knees couldn't handle a lengthy fuck in this position anyway, so I pin Sam's hips down and suck hard and steady. It doesn't take long to get her shouting and squirming, the orgasm a jolt of release up and down the length of her.

Pleased with myself, I climb back onto the bed, doing my best to ignore my complaining knees. Worth it!

Sam's half-hearted squirming to extricate herself from the shirt pauses when I once again straddle her to pin down the wiggling. There's an edge of exasperation under the humor and hormones, but I decide I can play for a little bit longer. Just as I had done before, my tone is causally conversational at odds to our nakedness and frisking around.

"You know I'm still mad at you for comparing me to that hussy Alex had clearly been fucking."

There's a blink of surprise before Sam laughs uproariously, completely startled by my tart comment. 

"Yes, I can tell how offended you are."

There's a definite edge to her teasing that lets me know that I'm about to get flipped. Oh darn, poor me. Sure enough, Sam wriggles athletically, unbalancing me with that damn traitorous giggle that makes me sound like I'm a toddler. Leering maniacally, she strips off her shirt, pants and shoes while I scoot up the bed to be more comfortable.

"Are you jealous, Lena?" Sam teases me before bringing her naked self to bed. Really, it's hard to be petulant when she's being cute… and right.

"No! …Fine, maybe a little."

I can't stay sulking when she does that to my neck, familiar touch wandering over my curves.

"Now, you don't know that the lady with the hot car isn't just some fling. The body language was more playful than possessive."

My reply is more breathless than tart, but I have to at least make the attempt! "How does that mean anything? You're like that and we're practically married."

The thrum of chuckle is as warm as her voice against my skin. "True. You'll have to take my word that it's nothing serious. When she's serious, it must be a firestorm, hmm? Being the focus of all that attention and fire? Because she definitely seems the sort to be attentive, hmmm?"

With all the teasing me over the weekend while the girls had been home, my fuse has been primed past 'hussy' and peaked out at 'horny'. That little romp on the couch by no means cooled me off! Still I'm in for more teasing because this is Sam.

"Oh yes…"

From that first night years ago, my lead employee running me, the new boss, through the liquor inventory and a few specialty drinks until the little test sips had us both drunk and giggly, Sam has known the secret locks to my body. Standing close, far too close, she waited for me to close the gap. She tasted of lemonade, the booze a discrete note mixed in with the earthiness that is hers and hers alone. 

I would know her taste and touch, even blind.

With neither of us living at the building then, the romp had been an athletic fuck against the wall that left me pleasantly bruised and loose.

That was also the night I found out about Ruby, because Sam wanted to linger, but had to go. I have never begrudged Ruby coming first, nor will I ever. That worry over her daughter --and later when I found out about the shithole apartment they were living in-- was the final brick knocked out of my wall of revenge.

It was also the first moment I knew I could love her.

A playful little chomp where Sam has managed to find a bit of extra softness near my hip jolts me back from memories and I don't hold back the gasp and squirm she's after.

"You wandering off on me, baby?"

Rubbing at her scalp where she continues to mouth at my belly, I reassure her. "No. Just remembering that first night we met." There's no missing that mischievous gleam in her eye and I give her scalp a little yank. "Not my drunken stumble into you, brat."

That wicked chuckle vibrating against my skin is as sexy as her touch and kisses as Sam makes her dawdling way downward. I writhe just like I always do becasue Sam is an amazing lover, even if she sometimes does shit like that, the brat!

Still, I can't stop my squealing giggle at the fart-noise blast of air against my belly, followed up by her devastating, wild grin. Neither of us had been able to be much in the way of children, making up for that every day in playfulness. Pleased with herself, Sam settles between my spread legs and sets in to give me some relief.

Of course, I have to writhe and beg and curse at her until she chuckles again, tripping me into orgasm.

Anyone who lacks a playful lover has my pity.

Feeling far calmer now, I let my body settle and make grabby hands at Sam until she climbs up the bed for cuddles. This is every bit as good as the sex, often better

"Do you think if I pay for their hay and some infrastructure, we can get more footage of her shirt off?"

My deadpan catches Sam off guard and her delight peals out into our bedroom. How I love to make Sam laugh and see her shadows fall away.

Fully relaxed now, I run a hand over the familiar, lanky lines of her long body.

"We're gonna get some mileage out of this, aren't we?" Sam teases back wryly and I echo her laughter, tugging her into a kiss.

"We absolutely are! Now, come here."

\----

The apartment is quiet as I stir and blink my eyes open to squint at the late morning sun. I love a good lazy morning and a cuddle. Or at least what Sam's distinct version of a cuddle is.

Today is 'The Half-Starfish', her right arm and leg thrown nearly ninety degrees away from her torso while the left side clamps me to her as though fearful she'll float away. Though better this than being poked and flailed at while she sleeps with all the serenity of a thunderstorm. My Samantha is a great many wonderful things, but peaceful isn't one of them.

When my gaze falls on the alarm clock beside the bed, my eyes widen. 

When was the last time I slept for the better part of ten hours?

Probably when I was Lily's age.

If I ever meet Alex in person I'll have to find a way to thank her without giving any embarrassing details. Unless Sam and I can enact a few fantasies with her, then she can have all the details she wants!

I wallow for a bit in the warm blend of our bare skins and the memories of our wild romp of a night. But more mundane needs prevail and I expertly tickle at her knee to release the deathgrip and slip away.

Teeth, toilet and a good scrub are my agenda before anything else, because frankly, I'm a mess. While I have entirely no complaints about how I got that way, a hot shower has me feeling human again. A light camisole shirt with some built-in support, leggings and fuzzy socks get me comfy because unlike the human power plant, I feel the weather changes! Sam doesn't feel a damn thing unless its below freezing or hot enough to bake your brain. Even then, it barely fazes her. Snowboots and shorts are not unheard of, and listening to her squeal about snow in her boots is hilarious. 

To shake off the body soreness of a pleasant overindulgence in sex and sleep, I head for the balcony where my favorite sunning patch is. It's my favorite because I have a canopy rigged up that blocks most of the death rays. I sunburn violently even for my pale complexion, to the point I have to wonder if there aren't vampires somewhere on my family tree. Still, I'm cat enough to enjoy the experience in my own way.

The sprawling apartment is a palatial haven eight stories up from the streets below, with Queens a constant din around us. The nearby East River and Little Neck Bay are wide and slow where they meet Long Island Sound, a jeweled glitter through the forest of buildings around us. I love the energy here, the fast and slow of it, the sense of neighborhood that hangs on tenaciously even as gentrification presses in.

That I'm a part of that does bother me… Still, I can't regret my life here, it's too precious.

Meeting Sam was a blessing in more ways than just meeting her. It meant this colorful neighborhood and this grand building we've sweated over so much, and becoming my own person in defiance of my heavy family name.

A rumbling stomach and the dull ache of caffeine deprivation sends me in. To my amusement, the place is still echoingly empty. Good. Sam never sleeps enough and the scent of coffee will rouse her eventually. That started, I browse the fridge and settle on some leftovers and miracle of miracles, Lily actually left some fruit for the rest of us.

Holding a selection of fruit and containers of proteins, grains and vegetables, I'm struck again by my utter lack of knowledge of the how and where of them. Naturally, my thoughts return to Rainbow Haven Acres and the experiences I have been able to have with them through the internet. The disappointment of this little family in missing the open house was not feigned. That the farm is quite literally a continent away has no affect on the feeling.

And while the disappointment lingers, there is nothing for it. Still… perhaps there's something I can do.

Just a few weeks ago, they were worried about feeding the diverse group of animals they have collected. Did they solve the problem? I might not have a definitive answer, but I can at least provide some assist.

Grabbing my laptop, I settle in with my brunch and pull up the Patreon homepage to search for Rainbow Haven Acres. Viola! It's a nice page of friendly and familiar graphics, the original gang's faces grinning at me in a group shot with spring ripe around them.

The pang of want is still an odd and somewhat uncomfortable as these people are strangers, dammit!

There's a fascinating list of things they want to do, along with photos gleaned from the internet as examples. There's a layout for needed drainage in several places, at least one more of the greenhouse-coops that have been so successful for them, and something else that catches my eye.

A log house. 

No one on Team Lanvers has ever shown video of the thick forest that is the massive northwest tax lot, indistinguishable from the federal lands beyond it. For all I know, they themselves have never ventured in there. But there are pictures of a rocky outcrop naturally clear of the towering evergreens that surround it. Those photos rest beside internet examples of cozy rustic cabins and the bolt of longing hits me hard.

Is this what Alex and Lucy felt like as they made audacious plans to just walk away from successful careers and city life? For a disjointed moment, I pause and look around the amazing apartment I share with Sam and our daughters, aware of the noise and chaos outside in a way I rarely am.

It takes a moment to shake it off.

There's also plans for rehabilitating the pond, building a more permanent bridge, expanding crops or projects into the old tree farm around the mini-airstrip, and most interesting, an aquaponics setup that would support both plants and fish. Hmmm, I'm definitely going to come back to that.

The reward levels are fairly typical as I'm a regular to Patreon. Still, the cheek of Team Lanvers shines through. I can almost hear Kara's familiar voice in, '$5- we will send a postcard to a provided address. Please make it one where it will get to you, or some stranger is going to be VERY confused.'

As the donations climb, I chuckle at the usual offers of buttons and t-shirts as well as moderately pricey hand-decorated ostrich eggs. It's pretty obvious that the group doesn't expect anyone to cough up any higher denominations than a few hundred bucks as the rewards get sillier. Still, they're a clever bunch.

'$500- A group silly dance to the catchy song of your choice. Sobriety not guaranteed.'

'$1000- Alex will hug a kitten for you. Alternatively, a cat will substitute if a kitten is not available. In an emergency, a lamb or possibly a chicken. (If you people knew the begging and pleading I had to do for this one, believe me, a thousand is a deal. Still, she cannot resist the power of my pout and relented at the addition of a zero. So there.)'

'$10,000- Alex dared me to put this completely unrealistic level here. I quote, "Kara! You're nuts if you think some internet creeper is gonna cough up ten K!" (And, yes, I did have to 'beep' her out in there. Shocking, I know.)  
So, yeah, no creepers are welcome. Big sister said so.  
However! If you're rich and NICE and want a somewhat rough around the edges glamping weekend, we're your team! I'll just kick Alex out of the green house, or Lucy from the yurt, while you visit. We'll provide room and board --and really, Nia is even a better cook than you know-- for up to four people for four days, and of course give you the full experience of the farm!'

Well, if that's not an invitation, I've never heard one. As impossible as these daydreams of the homestead life are, perhaps I can arrange for a vacation for my family and some help for the YouTube channel that has provided me with such delight.

Reaching for my phone, I don't even look at the speed dial and after a couple of rings, Jess picks up with a cheery greeting and I put on my best coaxing tone.

"So how would you like to help me out with a crazy endeavor? I promise it's far less insane then the one that landed us in this building."

"Lena, you would have to go to some lengths to outdo that madness," Jess teases dryly.

"Smartass. There's a rural vacation in it if you'd like to join me and my girls."

"Well that depends. How rural are we talking about here?"

Her hesitation makes me laugh. "We'll rent an RV when we get there. An enormous fancy, comfortable one. How does that sound?"

"Okay, I'm not entirely horrified by the idea. What did you have in mind?"

And we settle in to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone thank mw4vt9 for kicking my ass to add in a LOT more Lena and Sam to this chapter. She's right of course, they earned their romp! Getting to know this new Lena, and Sam as a new muse, has been a huge delight.
> 
> (From IMs)  
> mandylynnw- Also If I don’t get a little sweet talking pre sex about Alex, I am going to be mad.  
> shatterpath- HAHAHAHHAHA! a little Sam/Lena warm up before the main act, eh?  
> mandylynnw- Yes. Absolutely. A “yes we clearly both are super into Alex” moment that leads to good sex.


	15. Patreon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES! Finally, I get to set up camp in Sam's head!

\----  
**Sam's POV**

I am a child of my city, my status, of abandonment by a stranger right out of the womb, of a lonely, rigid woman looking for a last chance to try and find love. Frankly, she wasn't good at it.

I learned to be independent early, to look for any opportunity, every route of escape, file away every scrap of information. I was a skinny, feral little thing, gawky and tall, quick on my feet and even quicker between my ears. If I were smarter and more clever than everyone else, I could stay ahead. Stay ahead of my fears and demons and the endless chant of 'what if' that came from being raised by a cold mother.

Looking back, it was inevitable that things would implode so spectacularly.

Desperate for the love I'd been missing all my life, the mistake happened and in an instant I was sixteen and pregnant, thrown out of the only home I knew with barely enough time to grab a backpack full of clothing and a few keepsakes. No amount of therapy will get rid of some of the memories like a tar pit in my head. Still, there were those that saved me too, teachers and church folk and those that remembered what it was to have an old-fashioned neighborhood around them, and not what modern New York has mostly become.

They all convinced me to give the baby up. It would be too much of a drain on me, it would be dangerous they said. Through the rending pressure and pain of birth, any of my doubts seemed to wither and die.

Until I looked into that baby's scrunchy little face and everything else faded away. For the first time in my life, I felt like I could breathe.

I'll never know where I found the strength to reach past terror and pain and the clamor of everyone else's words and condemnations in my head, to catch the nurse's sleeve. Yes, I knew the nice churchies would shake their heads sadly, yes I knew the nice lady eagerly waiting to adopt my baby would be crushed, yes, I knew all of that.

But I couldn't let her go.

So I waited a day for my insides to feel less horrible, refused to have any visitors, and when they brought me my daughter to feed, I stayed quiet and alert until I could slip away.

Somehow, I made it work. Alone and scared and with my infant held close, I found allies and scut work to scrape together some money out of sight of the authorities. I named my sweet little kitten, Ruby, a bright gem in my dull world.

I wish I could have given her the world, doted on her night and day instead of having to work two full-time jobs and sometimes more, Ruby staying with neighbors in our fleabag apartment building or alone at far too young an age.

But we survived.

A coworker at whatever thankless job I'd gotten stuck in gave me a lead to a step up and a way out of the inadequate living situation. I had to find something better and get away from ducking Ruby's teachers and school staff wondering over her threadbare clothes and lunches of oddball leftovers from my jobs.

We packed what we could carry or stuff into a rental car and headed out to Queens to make a new home in a neighborhood that would soon be ground under gentrification and have the individuality strangled out of it. Until then, I could make a marginal living with the other rats. 

The bar was an unexpected haven for me with halfway decent pay, the occasional nice tip payout and a policy of careful retaliation against the asshole handsy sorts. Mugs slammed down on fingers was a favorite of mine, guaranteed to make them leap away and give me a few moments to brace myself for a secondary reaction.

Sometimes they'd lash out and sometimes they'd skulk off like the cowards they were. Unfortunately, they were the backbone of the business and I navigated the chaos as best I could. Though, if they were the bread and butter, the rich kids looking for some rough trade were the unexpected fifty dollar bill found on the sidewalk.

That analogy brings back memories. To be honest, I don't really remember meeting Lena. She was just another bored college brat and her brat entourage that I could flatter and fleece, leaving them with dented bank accounts and some fun memories. They were a dime a dozen in my work and in this neighborhood.

That fateful day she and her idiot friends wandered into the then-scruffy bar downstairs, I could never have known how she would change my life, give Ruby and I the strength of family we needed so desperately. 

And the temper tantrum in buying the whole building simply to get revenge on me? What a drama queen! Though admittedly, she did scare the shit out of me. In a shithole bar like the Boiler Room used to be, new owners could only be bad news. 

Instead of having the rug jerked out from beneath me yet again, I found a soulmate and a home.

Lena turned out to be so much more than just another rich girl making me feel lower than I already was. She is kind, tough and has the sort of mercurial, endlessly adaptable and brilliant mind that still leaves me in awe. 

We saved each other in so many ways. Lena was being crushed under the weight of expectations, of being a new mother with too much money and not enough help. Her money started to save the funky old building and slowly scrub the shithole into a business to be proud of. She left me the functioning of the bar and didn't micromanage, and I tugged her head out of the clouds when her plans grew larger than the brick and wood around us. We were a hell of a good team right out of the gate, a balance for one another and our daughters.

Because I got Lily in the deal too.

I couldn't love that kid --full of wild energy and enough creativity to reshape the world into something messy and beautiful-- more if she were my own. Just shy of a year and a half old, Lily was barely wary of me and my too-smart-for-her-own-good daughter, and her easy acceptance was humbling. In an instant, they were friends. In days, they were sisters.

Lena's massive intelligence and quick wits were a welcome balance to my more linear thinking. In her, Ruby found a mentor every bit as smart and quick as she is and they were inseparable almost instantly. Her grades --already solid-- climbed into the top four percent of her school. After a year, I even let Lena talk me into sending Ruby to a private school to really get that brain in shape; even if we all hate being separated during the week.

In turn, I became a playmate and mentor to Lily, all chaos and mess and loudness. As Ruby had always been a more cerebral child, my having the little human hurricane to roughhouse with made me feel like the kid I had never gotten to be.

In them, in the dynamic we built between the four of us, I found a new strength and purpose.

Five years later, and we're a real family through and through… even as the fearful, feral part of me constantly itches to run and never look back.

\----

If not for Lena, I have no idea what sort of person I might have become. A cold and reluctant mother like the woman who raised me who became a monster with the spark of Ruby alive within me? Would growing up dirt poor and with a mother capable of little more than work and sleep have ruined my smart girl? 

But I got Lena somehow, and she is the balance I needed, even if I didn't know it at the time. Me and Lena? I've never known quite how to explain me and Lena.

Even after six years of connection, of friendship and love and partnering in all ways, I still feel like she's going to wake up one day and wonder what the hell she's doing in this plebian life. So I feel like I have to keep my foot in the door, an eye on every window, ready to pick up the pieces and grit my teeth and survive by whatever means necessary. 

Sometimes I think our daughters are the only thing anchoring her to one place.

\----

The scent of coffee cuts through my drowsy reminiscing and I slowly force myself to come to life. Good god, I feel like I was dropped from too high up and left to not move for too long. Dragging myself to the bathroom to clean up helps, as does the pounding of almost painfully hot water.

There are some real benefits to being Lena's partner.

Like the magnificent way we eat. Not fancy, but with the best ingredients she can find, and she has a very long reach when she wants it.

The great room is empty, though I can hear her close by. There's an off and on strain to her small noises that means she's stretching, probably on the other side of the dining table. Though going to find her is aborted by disembodied words that have me freezing like a hunted animal.

"Lena? Are you there?"

The unexpected voice is a guy on her computer screen in a suit that probably costs as much as the booze the club goes through in a week. He's silvering around the edges and looks distinguished in the same way as the paintings and photos of Lena's late father. He also seems dimly familiar and I let the fear response go, smooth down the fight or flight.

"I'm still here, Brad, hold up!"

Bouncing up from her stretch on the floor, Lena flops down onto the chair, feet tucked awkwardly under her. 

"Shaking off a long weekend?" The-suit-named-Brad teases and Lena laughs that throaty laugh that does things to my heart and hormones.

"Hardly! Just a school play for the eldest and a quiet weekend in. Our transaction has definitely been the most exciting thing since that hassle in Los Angeles."

"Oh, speaking of that…"

I zone out on their conversation as much for their privacy as my own disinterest. Frankly, I have never had the faintest gleam of curiosity in the Luthor part of Lena's life. She keeps it very deliberately separate from our lives here and I fully respect that. Being a Luthor means a hell of a lot of zeros to your name, but the stress --and often, isolation-- barely seems worth it.

From the snippets I catch, it's clear Brad is from the bank, knew her daddy and a large sum of money has been moved at her request. Call me crazy, but I have a hunch what that is about. 

It's weird, to be honest, how into those videos Lena has gotten. Oh, I get Alex's appeal, and I absolutely wouldn't kick her out of bed, but the softness of Lena's smile says there's more to it. Admittedly, there's something special about that stranger's grin and the adoration she has for her weird little family and the creatures in their care and that beautiful land they've made their own. 

Alex has a steadiness that I feel like I lack and it makes me wonder if that --plus the absolute drop dead sexy of her-- is enough to send Lena running to the Oregon Trail.

Shaking off the dark thoughts, I busy myself with coffee and looking for something to calm the hungry beast in my gut trying to claw its way loose. It feels like I'm always hungry, always restless and ready to leap into action. I've always been like that. As is the norm, Lena has left me a large portion of what I bet her own breakfast was. She's sweet that way. In return, I grab a tiny cappuccino cup and pour in the whole goat's milk she loves in her coffee as a treat.

Call over, Lena rearranges herself in the chair to tap away busily at the computer. Something a very sparse few know about her is on full display at the moment. It's yet another endearing habit, though certainly one the children never really see. In defiance of her stuffy upbringing, Lena loves to sit like an absolute wacko, pretzeling herself up like some feral animal who has never seen a piece of furniture in her life.

It's adorable.

In no hurry to do anything or be anywhere, I just lean against the kitchen counter and nibble at my breakfast, waiting until my lover notices me. 

Which she eventually does, jumping a little in surprise. I do love doing that!

That's my cue to juggle over my supplies in addition to the carafe of coffee. The fleeting wisps of dark thoughts fly out of my head at her smile, the touch of her hand on my cheek when I lean down to kiss her. With this beautiful soul beaming love out at me, how could I think I wasn't good enough? Those niggling worries about a handsome stranger coaxing her away are quieted by her voice and touch, both of which soothe and reassure my restless soul.

After humming happily over her freshened coffee and milk, Lena speaks up casually. "So I made a contribution to Rainbow Haven Acres."

The faint note of sheepishness is endearing. After the mileage we got out of our internet crush last night, I'd think she'd be over any small embarrassment. There's no hiding my smile, not even behind a large coffee mug.

"I gathered that would be on your agenda after the banter last night."

Blessed with mostly not having to deal with the bullshit of the Luthor empire, Lena is very sweet about being the sort of bored philanthropist to browse through sites like Patreon and Kickstarter. She doles out just enough money, just often enough, to not call attention to herself. She's just that sort.

Knowing she hates being fawned over for her donations, I easily shift to affectionate teasing. "Did you send a compliment along with the money? After last night, a card and flowers would seem appropriate."

Green eyes twinkle with confrontational mirth as her quick wit comes out in a dry, "I hardly think there's a Hallmark card that reads, 'thank you for the orgasm.'"

Never one to back down from a fight, no matter how loving, I zing back, "are you mocking me with the singular, or did I just burn out some of your memory circuits?" 

"Arrogant."

While my memories of our first meeting blurred in with every other college student that comes through this place both then and now, getting to know her remains treasured memories.

Lena is a gem in every sense of the word, and she makes me better. Yes, I could live without her, but I'd hate it. We've hovered somewhere between, 'old married couple,' and 'best friends who love to bully each other, but out of love,' since that fateful meeting in the shithole bar so long ago.

I wouldn't want it any other way.

\----  
**Lena's POV**

After a lovely morning with my Sammy and a long, boring day of the endless and fiddly details of care and maintenance to this old building, the workday is drawing to a close. Better, I get the email I've been waiting for. It's from a Winnsome Creatures Technology, and titled, 'regarding your donation'. The name gets a smile. I'd have been shocked if there wasn't some sort of playfulness from this gang of friends!

The email does its best to be professional, but is a thinly veiled 'omg, are you #$*!ing serious?!?!' that makes me laugh. I forget sometimes what a long number can do to most people. Yes, I own that extreme privilege has left my perceptions a bit skewed. 

Pulling up Skype on my computer, I tap out the phone number and wait. It doesn't take long.

"Winnsome Creatures Technology, this is Winn."

"Good to put a voice to a name, Winn."

I have no idea what makes me be so familiar with a complete stranger like this, but all I can do is figure that I've indulged too much in his friends. There's a long pause and Winn sounds so hesitant I have to stifle down a giggle.

"Uh… is this Brad from Luder Bank? Because if it is, damn Brad, you have a sexy voice."

That does it, my laughter pealing out. He garbled the pronunciation of the family bank, but that's hardly new. The bank is as old as my forbearers immigrating to the new world and one of the few things to bear the original German spelling. Like many families back in the day, our last name was altered in the process of becoming Americans. Ironically, sometimes the separation of name has been a blessing.

"Turn on your camera, you goof," I giggle-speak as though we're old friends and a moment later, a pleasantly ordinary-looking fellow that could be anywhere in his twenties or thirties is smiling on my screen.

"Now, see, I'm almost disappointed in you, Brad, I was expecting a fancy three-piece suit. You'd look great."

"With a good tailor, everyone looks great in a suit, flatterer. A pleasure to meet you, Winn. I'm Lena."

"Same, Lena!"

We chat amiably about the money and Winn is clearly far less intimidated now that he has a face to the funds. That's pretty normal and I go with it. This is no business transaction and the informal suits us both better. 

"'Winnsome Creatures' is pretty clever," I tease my new pal with a chuckle, amused when he rolls his eyes.

"Oh, that was all Alex. She went full 'dad joke' mode when I asked for suggestions."

Always curious about my crush, I try for nonchalant. "Oh? What were some of the rejects?"

Winn pauses in his tapping away at his computer to look thoughtfully off into the middle distance. "Lemme see what I can remember. It was years ago. Winn Some-Lose Some, Winner Takes All, The Winner's Circle." There's no keeping in my little scoff of amusement and Winn grins wickedly. "It was one of the many times when I asked Kara how was it that her sister is both charming and a complete pain in the ass." 

It's easy to envision how Kara must have just sighed and shook her head, fond smile on her face.

"Are they as great as they appear to be in the videos?"

Even I can hear the wistfulness in my tone and Winn pauses his typing to smile warmly.

"They're better."

Feeling unaccountably shy, I force myself to ask, "so, if I were to take up the offer of a not-so-glamping trip to the farm, do you think I might persuade your team to take on just one extra body if she is a somewhat small seven year old?"

"Lady, for this donation, I will make damn sure those idiots will definitely accommodate a half more!"

After a pleasant chat, I freely give Winn permission to tell Team Lanvers what he will, though I do insist that I communicate only through him; at least until I talk things out with my family. He readily agrees and we both sign off. Excited, I race for the master bedroom to dress high-end casual, sweeping my hair into a ponytail as I make my way to the elevators. 

The building lobby was the first thing I tackled when I bought the place, refurbishing it top to bottom, moving walls, maximizing the space. It's actually far smaller now, but better thought out, with living plants and pleasant décor and the banks of antique mailboxes discretely set off to the side. Aside from the expanded manager's living space and office, I had the entire double-height ground floor cleared out of ragtag little business spaces to shake up the shithole bar and turn it into a profitable club. The bar stayed open while we converted everything else, then the staff simply switched over, expanded and grew into the space. The original bar is now a quiet side club, a surprisingly pleasant gem of old wood and stone beneath lifetimes of grime.

There are discrete doors in the lobby for access to back-of-house, but I rarely remember to grab my keycards for access. My staff knows what they are doing and I try to keep out of their business unless I need to, be it housekeeping or the club.

Stepping into the sweltering early evening, I breathe deep of our neighborhood and head north. The entrance lobby for the apartments is well off to one side of the street-facing side of the building, the club, the other end. Each has been carefully worked to look completely different, with the intent to reduce confusion.

There's a new bouncer at the door, so I wait a few minutes off to the side until a more familiar face shows up.

"Lena! How you been, chica?"

Mario has been with The Boiler Room even longer than Sam and is one of her staunchest allies. He is also built like a grizzly bear and gives the most amazing hugs. After getting squashed and trading a few flirtatious barbs, I'm waved in. Inside it's pretty empty, the crowds finishing up their day before heading out for some fun. Canned dance music is just at the edge of obtrusive for now, the rotating DJs slated for later hours. My destination is the old bar, kept remarkably quiet by two sets of thick wooden doors and a hallway between. 

Unlike the former life of the bar, it smells reasonably clean and almost entirely free of decades of tobacco smoke. That smell never truly gets out of wood. At least it's been illegal to smoke indoors since 2002, that's a boon. 

The gorgeous old bar is a behemoth of wood sealed glass smooth and heavy brass rails that once supported the hands and feet of the people who built this city. I love the history here, details lost to time and neglect, but pressed into the booths and walls and wood.

The thin crowd hardly warrants three bartenders, but Sam likes it that way. The more she is merely an extra set of hands, the better. It also lets her rotate around the entire business to keep an eye on things, be it creating exotic drinks to wow the crowd, or scrubbing down the bathrooms. A business needs everything to work well to be successful. 

I can see that familiar grin curl to life as I grandly sweep in and take the center barstool. Tonight is Sam's protégé, Nat, and a new girl I haven't met. The former greets me cheerfully, the latter looks speculative. A shame we have a 'no one work related' policy, because she's cute. Oh well.

With a few precise, fluid moves, Nat has a tallboy glass prepared and gives it just enough of a slide to come to a perfect halt beneath my nose. I daresay that Nat is an even better barkeep than Sam herself, with a unique flair the patrons love. She can keep everything together when I drag my Sam off to the wilds of Oregon.

The mint julep is perfection, just a little too tart, and easy on the booze.

"Perfect for the end of a hot day! Thank you, Nat."

As expected, I am treated just like another patron, though admittedly a VIP. Inside these walls, business comes first. Though Sam does finish up her stocking and comes over to lean on the bar beside me.

"You look very pleased with yourself."

Grinning coyly around my straw, I tease, "do I? I can't imagine why."

A quick, hard kiss makes me giggle, uncaring that she's mussed my lipstick. I like the flash of my hotter red on her mouth.

"So when are we going?"

I pout dramatically at her guessing, not that I expected anything less, and earn another kiss, longer and hotter, with a little nip at my bottom lip for good measure. 

"Tease."

"Oh you just wait until I'm sure everything's running well here and I'll do more than tease."

Pleased with that, I grin and get one more lingering kiss before I'm left with my drink.

By the next afternoon, we three adults have plotted out the best dates and a few alternates.

By the time breakfast is over on Saturday, the girls are alight with excitement over the idea. 

By the following Monday, I have coordinated with Winn for a vacation out to Rainbow Haven Acres in less than three weeks. 

Let the countdown begin.

> **So, it started out like an ordinary week… September 20- September 26.  
>  8458 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on October 2, 2017**
> 
> "So, yeah, sorry we're a couple days late posting, but things got a little… crazy."
> 
> Frankly, Kara was still in a state of shock. Like nearly-hit-by-a-bus state of shock. They all were. No matter that she'd tried to scrawl out a bit of a script to get through this, the words looked like the chickens scratching at the dirt.
> 
> So she tossed the paper over her shoulder and took a deep breath. 
> 
> "Okay, let me see what I can cover. So, uh… oh! Right. The kittens have recovered well from being fixed and are whining and crying to be let loose. They're also stinky messes from being unable to groom themselves. A couple days ago me and Alex held each one down and brushed them out and used some pet wipes on them." Kara knew Winn would later voiceover her onto the various bits of footage and continued rambling away. "The hay we cut is all stacked neatly into the west side of the low barn, which is why it was built to be mostly open to the air. We did a lot of reading and hay has to have some air circulation to stay dry and nutritious. The five foot walls will keep out rain and snow. We're still looking for more, but it's hard to negotiate with finances low."
> 
> Remembering something, Kara brightened and gestured for Brainy to follow her as she set across the shorn field, skirting the dilapidated garden and long fence lines that kept their animal friends safe.
> 
> "We've been focusing on winterizing what we can before the weather turns ugly again. Like, we've been slowly moving the beehive closer and closer to the nearest hoop house, y'know, so the bees don't get lost getting home. Once they're inside the plastic, we'll insulate in the back three sides to help get them through the winter. Alex also put together a nice little canopy to keep their landing ledge dry. It even matches the look of the box! Alex is the best."
> 
> Suffused with affection for her sister, Kara stroked the wooden box where her bees still worked busily, her smile soft.
> 
> "Also, Alex and Lucy finally took a good look at the pond. We'd kinda seen it when we trimmed back the forest to get in the low barn, but there's a lot of underbrush around the water and that's not even getting into the damn blackberry brambles!"
> 
> For once, Kara didn't bother to fret over the cussing. The blackberry deserved worse.
> 
> \----
> 
> Alex had done a lot of painful things at this farm. This one was right up there with handfuls of blisters in those early days. You can, in fact, blister through gloves. Who knew? Her healer's hands were rougher instruments now, though they could still accomplish delicate tasks.
> 
> Wielding a honest-to-Indy machete was no delicate operation. 
> 
> Here she was, hacking her way through enough deadly blackberry to eat a thousand sheep and sing, "feed me Seymour," for more.
> 
> But the last time she'd used the chainsaw, on this very task in fact, the damn thing had tried to leap out of her hands like the ghost of Michael Meyers had come for her soul. She'd been nervous about the machine ever since.
> 
> One of the earlier videos they watched on this journey was an only slightly cheeky talk on how brambles were the largest carnivorous plant in the world. Seeing the vile, backwards-facing barbs often as big as a large cat's claws, and how they would twist and dig into sheep fleece until there was no hope of escape? Yeah, it didn't seem so funny anymore. About the only damn thing they couldn't get a good grip into was the thick Carhartt cotton duck fabric. So here Alex was, deep into brambles often lumping up higher than her head, swinging around a sharp knife as long as her forearm and sweating like a racehorse.
> 
> "Behold our romantic farm life!"
> 
> As though mocking her complaints, yet another thorny vine found her bootlaces and sent her sprawling into yet more bramble. With reflexes honed from being an urban bicyclist and risking her neck in the ER, Alex got her arms up around her head and lay there listening to the woody scrape of hundreds of thorns against her heavy work clothes as she settled into the mass.
> 
> It did nothing to drown out Lucy's laughing concern.
> 
> "Christ, Alex, that was some header. No proving the flesh-eating plant theory true. Think you can get a knee under you?"
> 
> Brainy set aside his camera on the tripod to lend a hand with the rescue. With handfuls of jacket and waistband, Lucy and Brainy set their weight and pulled with all their might. The cussing and yelling reached epic levels as the brambles found every vulnerable spot in defiance of losing their catch.
> 
> "Oh shit…"
> 
> Lucy's faint words were hardly a shock by the way the scratches at Alex's ears, neck and scalp burned.
> 
> "Remain still," Brainy ordered gently and picked at the leaves and thorns tangled in red hair. "It is fortunate that you had your hair trimmed shorter, Alex, or this would be a far more difficult task."
> 
> "All this and my scalp was cooler all summer. Bonus."
> 
> The grouchy tone was earned, blood smeared on her gloves when she lightly touched her scratches.
> 
> "Let's get this over with so I can go carefully strip and clean up. Don't worry about these scratches, none of them are deep. A good scrubbing and I'll let you fuss over them if Kara doesn't elbow you aside."
> 
> It only took a few more feet to reach the pond, their aim dead on to leave them at the old dock, rickety under dead leaves and slime mold. The universe evened up the score when Lucy slipped and went into the gross brown water, arms flailing. Laughing, Alex lay down and shoved her arm into the water to drag a spluttering Lucy up.
> 
> "Guess the brambles aren't the only hungry thing, eh?"
> 
> \----
> 
> Knowing that Winn would come back to her after the brambles and lake incident, Kara grinned wildly. "And Lucy's pretty sure that she saw signs there were small animals living at the edge of the pond that might be otters!" Expression going wry, she continued on. "There are also signs of beaver, but they might be gone by how old the lodge looked, not to mention the lack of flooding on the farm. I tried to get more details, but she and Alex were making too many dirty jokes!"
> 
> She loved them both, but honestly. After rubbing her forehead as though annoyed, Kara's smile gave her away, and she carried on.
> 
> "Also we got some winterizing done on the fancy-pants telecom set up Brainy's been slaving over since we got here, but wouldn't let any of us film!"
> 
> Her pointed look made Brainy speak up behind the camera. "Perfection first, then sharing."
> 
> "Fiiiiiiiine."
> 
> Clearly it was an old joke between the friends.
> 
> "We were looking at adding some cattle to the farm earlier in the year before we rescued the sheep, and are still gonna do that. There are some useful heritage breeds we'll add to the links below and if anyone has a lead on some miniature cattle that won't break the bank? Oh my god, so cute!"
> 
> A deep breath and Kara's demeanor sobered, becoming that baffled joy when she started this little video.
> 
> "Okay, so yeah, we have big news. So, we have a Patreon page, and some of you have been awesome and helped us out, so thank you. But it got… a little crazy last night. Winn gave us a call and told us the big news that he'd been sitting on for a day to make sure it wasn't a sick joke. It wasn't. So, some generous stranger out there --and I'll add in what little footage we caught of our reactions because even Brainy was too shocked to grab a camera-- some stranger donated to us --and I still can't believe I'm saying this-- one hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
> 
> Those big blue eyes filled with tears and her voice was a little hoarse then.
> 
> "So, whoever you are, I don't know how we'll ever thank you, because we're already on the hunt for all the hay and goodies our animals could ever eat in a winter, and have tons of plans to fulfill now to make this place as amazing as we all know it can be. Thank you so much for helping us save them and we're gonna save so many more. Whenever you want to come see the Oregon Mountains, you just let us know, 'kay?'
> 
> Then she signaled Brainy to cut so she could cry again in peace.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuzLXxbGc4c  
> World's Biggest Carnivorous Plant Catches Whole Sheep!  
> Brambles are EVIL. And the lovely people who made this video are awesome.  
> These sorts of blackberry plants were imported to Washington and Oregon states and, of course, got loose. They are a PLAGUE here. They can engulf whole houses, choke trails, kill off native plants in their path and are generally an invasive terror. My backyard has long been infested and getting them knocked back is a nightmare. Even dead dry and brittle, step on a vine and it will spring and coil as though alive. I have SCARS from dealing with this stuff. So again, brambles are EVIL.


	16. Go West

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At last!

> **As promised! September 27-October 3.  
>  16743 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on October 7, 2017**
> 
> The little party trudged through the darkness after getting the animals settled in for the night. There was a last task before they could fall into their beds. They carefully latched and unlatched gates, ingrained habit now, and entered the dimly-lit central aisle that split the low barn in half. With a murmur, Alex took her post near the enormous folding door that separated the ostrich from the dangers of the night while Kara and Brainy headed into the storage area.
> 
> In short order, they had the couple of electric lanterns set on tripods dimly lighting Kara and leaving the area behind her black as pitch. 
> 
> "Ready?"
> 
> "Ready."
> 
> It was warmer tonight, the last few persistent insects making their noises in the darkness. It made for a pleasant opening sequence as Brainy slowly panned from the blackness of the night to where Kara stood, dimly illuminated.
> 
> She, and everyone else at the farm, was pleasantly exhausted and still shell-shocked even after eight busy days. Kara did her best to pay attention to her task, but, oh, it was hard! Forcing a somewhat bewildered smile, she rubbed her hands together and tried to be perky.
> 
> "Hi guys. Okay! So, umm, last time there was a vid, I was sorta, well, a little incoherent." Faltering, she cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes. Her smile was sheepish and not a little vulnerable. "Jeez, I haven't been this out of it in front of a camera in years…" Rallying again, Kara continued on. "So, it's been eight days since the donation and we've been crazy busy, even for us, but that can't be a shock to anyone."
> 
> Growing more animated now, Kara's natural personality shone through the lingering shock and exhaustion.
> 
> "So, anyway, everyone is probably wondering what we're doing with the money, right? First and foremost, our number one worry has been taken care of!"
> 
> Throwing her arms wide, Kara heard Alex throw switches back in the barn and the darkness around her was abruptly flooded with electric light. The big alcove of five foot high wooden walls was now a mass of bales, stacked rectangles like big green bricks and enormous round wheels nearly as tall as Kara herself stacked three high.
> 
> "Behold! An entire winter's worth of hay and straw! And then some! We had a miserable time finding decent orchard grass for Jerkbutt and the alpaca, but it turns out that Nia actually has some decent family up in Montana who helped out, and now she has more family to rely on, which is never a bad thing! The rest of this is from Eastern Oregon and Washington and came in on a full-out semi-truck! And yes, oglers, we have video of us all being studly, especially Alex, and getting this all stacked."
> 
> For all that Kara remained 'eeew' about Alex's many admirers, she --like Brainy-- would exploit it.
> 
> "'Kay, let me think for sec. Umm, we got both tractors looked over by a mechanic, so we're ready for the cold temps, which we have more video for, so I bet it's playing now while I'm talking. More gravel was poured and compacted around the side and back of the village to stand up even better to plowing. We'll get to the back half of the farm next spring so that Maria and Carol can really use the big field back there for flying. There's little point before then. Same with the long-awaited real bridge, though the wooden one has been reinforced and is holding up great! We're definitely gonna be shopping this winter, getting stuff ready to be shipped to us once the snow melts off. And I get my aviary! Yes!"
> 
> Dancing about, Kara was pure joy for a moment before her demeanor abruptly went serious.
> 
> "So, on a more sober note, someone dumped a cat and her kittens at the edge of our property. The poor thing was half starved and they were all a mess of fleas and worse. How can people be so awful? Anyway, they're all cleaned up and well-fed now, and live in Mama B's old cage in the barn for now. The mama definitely doesn't like people, not even Alex! But the kittens are young enough to get used to us. I'm pretty sure that Alex snuck into the cat corral and got a few bits of video of them all."
> 
> Forcing away her sadness over the poor cats, who were now safe and well-cared for, Kara brightened again.
> 
> "Now, we still don't know who our mystery donor is, but as promised, here are the Patreon rewards to be enjoyed. You'll have to 'fess up who you are to get the swag! Hit it, DJ!"
> 
> It had been no easy feat to get the gang to toss away their dignity, but that many zeros in the bank made them giddier than being drunk or in love. So Kara made a list of the rewards and they worked their way through them. It would be up to Winn to make something coherent of it all.
> 
> Their preview of it the night before had them all screaming with laughter.
> 
> When the suggestions for songs had gotten too ridiculous and raunchy, Kara had finally cued up something boppy and fun on her phone. Cranking up the volume to carry from her nearby house, she jumped up and posed. The gang cracked up at the familiar strains of Carly Rae Jepson's 'Call Me Maybe', remixed to be catchier and more danceable. Monica joined in, dragging her blonde mother into the shenanigans, the firelight playing over them. Alex squirmed and pouted, but sucked her beer down and let her sister drag her to her feet to play along.
> 
> Then Winn had cut away to music video careful editing of their various goofing off over days of work, busting out in stupid dance moves and posing ridiculously with various swag. 
> 
> Nia and Lucy busted it out side by side on the gravel road, trying to outdo one another like they were extras in 'You Can Dance'. The camera swung over to the Danvers sisters, looking like fish on a line by comparison. What they lacked in skill --which was a lot-- they made up for in enthusiasm. With lines of pale dirt across the gravel road standing in for a sidewalk, the Rambeaus reenacted the famous Beetles walk, the feline sisters trotting along behind. A pause, rewind, start up again made it even funnier.
> 
> Even Brainy had been worn down, doing a bad walk-like-an-Egyptian, chicken-dance thing across the screen holding up a postcard like a game show host. Alex pantomimed outrageously at several of her cleaned and decorated ostrich eggs before snatching away her dinosaur stuffy from the tableau to stalk off in a childish huff. Lucy danced a borderline strip tease in as much farm swag crap they had on hand until she came to a halt beside an exasperated-looking Maria who shook her head and spun like John Travolta and they both dramatically gestured to the side. There sat Goose and Chewie, calm as could be in their colorful body harnesses and leashes marked, 'Rainbow Haven Acres'. Goose even hammed it up by flopping onto her side to writhe and look cute, orange tail flicking in tandem with her sister. A playful swat at Chewie started a body-slamming roughhouse that had the humans cracking up.
> 
> But the best was Alex swinging her hips and grinning flirtatiously as she kissed all over Biscotti's face where she lay upside-down on her forearms, their red and orange hair gleaming in the autumn sun. The decrepit barely-decent denim clinging tightly to her lower half matched the song lyric, 'ripped jeans, skin was showin', and would doubtlessly be a big hit.
> 
> The video drew to a close with the Danvers sisters leaning over to smooch the captured crazy white chicken on the head.
> 
> Perfect.  
> 

  


\----  
**Sam's POV**

In the end, we pull the girls out of school a day early, having found a red-eye flight with adequate first class amenities for Lena. It will also keep Lily quiet, as once that girl is out, little will disturb her before morning.

She doesn't even last until the security check, whining and squirming until I hand off my carryons and scoop her up. Really, she's gotten too big to be carried, but I relish the trust in her snuggling. Luckily the airport is slower in the dead of night and the TSA goons can afford to leave the kid alone. We only get halfway to the terminal before my entire upper torso is ready to give out, so Lena pulls us out of foot traffic to set down her baggage and let Lily ooze into her arms. After I shake myself out, her weight is much more manageable on my back, and we continue on.

By the time we settle in to wait at the terminal, Ruby isn't fairing much better than her little sister. For all her stoicism, she's dead on her feet and her temper is thin. Thankfully, Lena knows her as well as always and strikes up a quiet conversation until Ruby slowly sags over to fall asleep in her lap. 

The smiles we trade are pure fondness for our amazing kids.

After the flight before ours runs late and what feels like hours of waiting to board, even I'm feeling tired and I've been primarily nocturnal for years! Thankfully, Ruby wakes enough to help carry our things or we would have had even more chaos to deal with. I have no idea what we're going to do at the other end.

Thank god for pre-boarding with children so I can get Lily poured into her seat and buckled in while Lena and Ruby settle in close by. Then everyone else piles in and an exhausted quiet falls. It's another twenty minutes before we leave the terminal and the engines rev up to get us underway. By the time we are pressed back into our seats with the forces of takeoff, we're nearly two hours behind schedule.

Even I sleep much of the flight.

Thankfully, a tailwind makes up a bit of time and we're out of the plane in Portland about 4am and racing off to try and make our commuter hop down to Salem. Lena, never a fan of flying, looks exhausted and wryly jokes about our luggage making it. None of us have the functioning brain cells to sweat it. The commuter jet is small and cramped, reminding me of a flying taxi. Which, ironically, encourages me to fall asleep again. But it's not good sleep and halfway through the hour-long flight, Lily is awake with a start, full of puppyish energy and climbing over me to look out the window.

Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Once on the ground, none of us are disappointed to be done with airplanes for awhile. However, we are disappointed when Lena's call to the RV rental place reveals that, because we're a day early, the unit isn't ready.

"Honestly, L, s'ok," I reassure her wearily as we wait for our bags. "I need some real sleep anyway. You said they could do the driving lesson this afternoon?"

"Yes. Tell you what, let's get a hotel for the night and you get a long nap in. I'll take the girls sightseeing to get them out of your hair."

"You're the best, babe," I murmur and nuzzle her sleek scalp lovingly.

And so it goes.

Now, I'm not the best driver, it's a New York thing, but it's one of many skills I've learned over the years. The hulk of the RV is intimidating in ways I haven't experienced before and the iron gray sky and spattering rain isn't helping. Still, I live my life trying to set a good example for my kids and not let fear stop me. The machine the bored twenty-something has me driving is actually meters shorter than our rental, but it will get me the basic idea of how to control something this size.

Then I get to hang out with my girls and see a few corners of central Oregon and have a nice dinner. We're halfway through an excellent surf and turf when my phone rings. Normally, I'd ignore it during a meal --unless it was the club-- but it's a local number.

"Hello?"

"Miss Arias?"

"Yes."

"This is Bill over at Reign RV. Your unit just came in and if you wanted it early, we can forgo the cleaning and get it to you immediately."

Glancing at the windows where dusk is turning the clouds gorgeous colors over the western mountains, I make a quick decision.

"No, I think it would be better to wait until morning for the sake of safety. And a good cleaning would be welcome. I do appreciate the call though, thank you."

"Of course, it's no problem. We open at ten and the unit will be ready to go then."

"Fantastic."

After exchanging rote farewells, I hang up and look nonchalantly at my family. 

"What?"

Lily's dead-perfect mimicry of her sister's teenage exasperation is funny, but annoying. When I explain the call, they all look torn about the wait, but no one questions me.

"There's no way I'm driving that monster in the dark. We spend a last day in real beds and head up in the morning. Now what should we do with the rest of our evening?"

In the end it's a movie and crashing into our rented beds. Surprisingly, Lily doesn't climb in with Lena and I, but neither of us take advantage of the privacy. A long day of travel and the stress of my driving lesson fades away in the comfort of Lena spooned into my larger body, warm and sweet-smelling. My clinging only makes her murmur soothingly and stroke my encircling arms.

Wherever she and our girls are will always be home.

Miraculously, I sleep soundly, and even more astounding, Lily doesn't jump on me, merely crawling into the bed to take up the space between us left by my inevitable thrashing around.

"Hey, squirt," I force my drowsy body to say semi-coherently and roll onto my side to hug her. "You ready for our big adventure?"

Squirming closer, Lily shrugs in that uniquely awkward way of small children. "Yeah, but…"

"But?"

"'M nervous," is little more than a murmur against my throat and I kiss her messy hair.

"We'll take care of you, Lils. And if the nice people aren't as nice as we think? We'll sic your mama on them."

Lena snorts with amusement in tandem with her mini while Ruby laughs from the doorway, and that's signal enough for our morning to get started. It's far too early to pick up the RV, but after showers and gathering our things and a nice breakfast, we're pretty much right on time.

After the ritual of paperwork, we're walked out to the yard, and the employee is rambling at me as he points to our rental, but it's a bit of white noise.

It's… big.

There's a panicky feeling in the base of my brain, but a familiar touch silences it. Lena's hypnotic green eyes are a siren song, calm and supportive in the face of my alarm.

"Sam?"

There is a wealth of affection and question in that single word, the random designation of my name. Trying to laugh it off, I still sound tense, but the panic is receding. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Hard to believe these things come ten feet longer, huh?"

Excited, the girls have already rushed the RV, while Lena takes my hand to lead me over.

The rental is a class C that is a massive truck nose and chassis that carries the fiberglass box that will be home for a week. Up close it seems even more like a mobile building, the thought not fading as we climb the steps and look around. Ignoring the girls squabbling over the bunk beds, Lena and I take it all in.

"Actually… it not awful."

Considering that this was the one thing that Lena had been squirrelly about, I figure that's high praise. Not that I blame her exactly, because god knows where this machine has been!

"Right? No wonder this is their best rig. Leather upholstery and everything!"

"Lils!" Ruby barks suddenly. "I'm not going to have you tripping over me in the middle of the night when you need to use the bathroom! Besides, I'll barely need the ladder."

"I've got them," Lena sighs and gives me a gentle shove at the driver's compartment. "You go get familiar with your ship, captain."

While Lena disappoints Lily by agreeing that she gets the bunk on the floor, I drop into the driver's seat and key the engine to life. I'm no car nut, but that's clearly a big power plant under there!

The employee warily sticks his head in to ensure peace has settled before joining us to show Lena how to retract the slide-outs and pass on a bit of last minute info. As he leaves, Lily throws herself into the passenger seat, her consolation prize for losing the top bunk.

"Hey navigator," I coax at her. "Here's my phone. You can take care of the map and guide me, okay?"

There's that gorgeous Luthor smile.

"'Kay!"

After sweating bullets during the obstacle course that is getting the RV to the highway, I'm feeling better about driving it. I'll take the bonus of the weather remaining mostly dry for the time being as well. Lily is enjoying feeling important about tending to the map while Lena chats amiably with Ruby where they are seat-belted into the couch behind us. Free of the city, the natural splendor of the area comes to the forefront. 

"The trees are huge," Lily admires. "Cool!"

Just before we wind into the eastern mountains, we make a pit stop, tucking in among the semi-trucks that make us feel more like a van than a caravan. Then comes the challenge of the winding, mountainous roads that tax the big engine and my nerves. We admire the raw spot at the top of the steep valley where a dam once spanned the rocky crevasse, the lake behind it drained years ago. Then Lily directs me north where a long, low valley stretches away from the old lakebed that is now lush meadows and sapling trees.

"Almost there!"

Sure enough, moments later, the youngest of the family squeals loud enough to make me jump. "Moms! Look! It's the sign!"

Colorfully striped and adored with a trio of happy sunflowers, we all recognize the wooden sign.

Rainbow Haven Acres.

We've made it.

\----  
**Lena's POV**

It feels supremely strange and wonderful to be here at last.

Like an unfolding video, the RV lurches as we leave the paved road and onto the hard-packed gravel we watched Team Lanvers sweat over so diligently. There is a cluster of ugly, ramshackle buildings on our left --Uncle Marty's parcel of the farm-- and another dilapidated little house on the right. It's cradled in a large, weedy clearing rarely seen except in random aerial footage, and the team has never talked about it. The pastures stretch out to towering trees beyond Marty's land, and there's a glimpse of familiar buildings through the trees closer in.

Ruby startles as I unlatch my seatbelt and move to kneel by Lily's seat, leaving room for our teen to join me.

"It's so pretty," Lily breathes out reverently as Sam creeps the RV towards where the road cuts through the trees and the enticing buildings beyond…

"It's exactly how I pictured it."

The yurt is directly along the road, the Rambeau cabin on our right, the green container home back a bit, the saloon-barn combo, the sprawling deck with Kara and Nia's little shed homes with the clubhouse sentinel behind them…

And the big red barn against its backdrop of monstrous evergreens. 

I'm so enraptured by the sights that it takes a moment for it to register that we have company. 

"Check it out, Lils," Ruby says quietly and squeezes her shoulder. "They really are real."

At the far end of the village, Sam halts in front of the saloon as movement catches our eyes; Nia standing up from the seating at the firepit, Maria tall and alert beside her. Both of them are dressed for the crisp autumn air that rushes in as Sam shuts down the RV and opens the door. Slipping from the seat, she stretches out her back and approaches the two women.

"Umm, hi! We got in early and couldn't stay away. Sorry to just drop in unannounced."

That relaxes them immediately, Nia striding over with a slightly shy smile on her face. "Oh, that's okay. Are you Lena?"

"I'm the other half. Sam Arias, pleased to meet you. And, certainly, neither of you needs an introduction."

While I can't see Sam's charming rogue grin as she shakes their hands, I know it well.

"I suppose introducing ourselves is redundant," Maria says wryly and Nia's smile warms to bravery with a member of her tribe at her back.

"Too true! We had a taste of that at the open house. So, yes, welcome to the farm."

Ruby reaches out to give Lily's sweatshirt hood a yank before scrambling for the open driver's door. "C'mon, Squirt! Bet you can't catch me!"

Well, if anything will shake Lily out of being shy or upset, it's riling up her competitive Luthor instincts!

"Can too!" she yells and I nearly have to lunge after her as she falls as much as exits the RV, hot on her sister's heels. Well, there was no face-plant and tears, so I'll accept it as a good landing. 

It's not like me to duck introductions, but that's exactly what I do, hypnotized by the surroundings both familiar and foreign at the same time. The stuffy, self-conscious part of me that nags like Mom and childhood tutors, is a rush of guilt I ignore.

As though I'm starring in my own video, I tread the ground that had only been a two-dimensional image to follow along as distant audience and take it all in. The gravel road beneath my feet, the cluster of buildings I watched being built into their village, the massive trees, the sounds of the animals. 

It is wonderful and utterly surreal, but my goal is the red barn, where their story here began.

Eighties pop music grows louder as I approach, admiring the sheer scale of the building. Fifty feet of weathered red siding is larger than I thought it would be, particularly when the face is nearly as tall! And weathered it is, the whole thing desperately needing new paint and the lowest two feet of siding replaced at the very least. At least it seems to be straight and sturdy with no obvious structural issues, and honestly, Alex would have brought that up on a video were it an issue. Well at least that future project will give me something to watch down the line.

To my delighted amusement, the center aisle of the barn is crowded close with Brainy's old trailer and the jumble of materials the team has collected. The smells of animals close by is distinct, but not actually unpleasant… exactly.

A flicker of movement beneath the trailer startles me, but any trepidation turns to delight when a cat I recognize leaves her shadowy haven to yawn and stretch lazily.

"Oh my gosh," I hear myself whisper loudly. "You're Biscotti!"

She's even more gorgeous in person, the mottled pattern of her coat making her look like the autumn around us. She looks so grown up now, but I can see the vestiges of gawky kittenhood in the shape of her. 

My crouching down is invitation for the tortoiseshell to dawdle over and rub against my fingers and then my knee. She is very soft to the touch, dry dirt clinging grittily to her coat grown thick for the coming winter.

I've never had pets before. I mean, Daddy had his hunting dogs, but that was different and they were certainly not allowed anywhere near the house! Mom didn't even like me and Lex getting anywhere near them, though we did sneak visits sometimes. Lily never seemed overly interested and with Ruby away at school so much…

With my hand stroking over Biscotti's lush fur and feeling her vibrate with her purring… I find myself questioning why not. To my surprise, she hops up onto my knee and rubs her face against my chin.

I'm utterly charmed.

Instinctually, I coil my arms loosely and find myself with a warm, purring mass of fur cradled to my chest for the first time in my life. While some part of me frets over wondering if cats have any strange germs, I can't help but smile over the snuggles and head-butts. I suppose I'd best get used to it.

Oh, poor me.

Standing, I'm sweetly amused that my new friend seems disinclined to move and snuggles in happily.

Moving carefully, I turn and jump a little at a medium-large dog not five feet from me, watching intently. She's mottled brown and white with mismatched ears and a soulful face. With a start, I realize this is the hound I saw in the video, sprawled all over Alex. For a moment, that disconcertingly intelligent stare takes me in, before she turns and steps though the doorway where the music pours out.

Why do I feel like I just passed some sort of test?

Too curious to resist following, all speculation vanishes when I stand in the doorway, frozen in the best sort of shock.

Certainly I recognize the shop, no matter that it has been significantly improved since the last time I saw it in a video. There is actual insulation behind sheets of clear plastic stapled to the structural beams and half the large space is sheathed in more of the second hand wood siding from the defunct farm. Actual work benches and tools clutter the space and cluster on a nice, flat gravel floor, compacted tight.

But all of those details are brief as I am entranced by my internet crush… dancing like an idiot to a vaguely familiar song where the singer is belting out, 'shake it' over and over to a bouncy tune. 

Before I can stop gawking and start giggling, Alex spins like Michael Jackson and double-takes so hard she nearly knocks herself over. I'm fairly certain I hear an utterly undignified, high-pitched noise in the racket of pop music.

My traitorously girlie giggle is boiling up even as Alex stares for a moment like a deer in headlights. Then those dark eyes roll over to where I can see a smartphone resting, then back to me. For a long moment, she's torn, then shrugs and dances over to pose ridiculously. Dressed in a plain blue henley, her usual Carhartt pants and workboots so bulky I wonder if there are horseshoes nailed to the bottom, she makes quite a sight.

I'm as charmed as I suspected I would be.

"Do you dance, pretty lady?" Alex half-shouts over the music and my delight deepens.

"Not well!"

"Then you're in good company!"

Biscotti clearly recognizes shenanigans and wiggles away. Now, normally I would never do something like this outside my little family unit, but I'm on the vacation of a lifetime, dammit! Offering a hand gets a wide smile out of Alex that sets my heart to tripping. She grabs me and gives a little yank over the raised threshold and into the sloppiest of twirls.

I don't dance, not really. Sure, I had to learn the stuffy classics due to my station in life, but that was never fun. My daughters aren't really dancers either, though there have been times they've coaxed me to do just this, awkwardly but joyously flail limbs about in terrible approximation of keeping to the beat.

No, I don't dance, but I'm every bit as charmed by this sexy dork as I expected to be, clinging to her hand when she tries to let go, noting the intent curiosity in her dark eyes. The liveliness of her, the intensity, it's intoxicating.

So terrible dance we do, until we've moved halfway across the shop, bodies drifting closer, to where Alex can tap her phone until the volume drops suddenly. She has her hands up awkwardly, brushing my sides, hands curled around my elbows, and I put my own hands on her upper arms the instant I was close enough to do so. Swoon!

A canine-like head tilt calls attention to the messy mop of reddish locks grown brassier in the sun and longer than the initial shearing. There's no mistaking her speculation, the flash of real interest in those eyes.

"So, are you our mysterious hero? Or just an angel come to visit?"

There's a pause while I ponder exactly how to reply to that, sidetracked at Alex's self-exasperated look, her mouth twisting comically to one side. 

"That was really cheesy."

The 'you idiot' tone is sweetly hilarious and my chuckle feels good. "It really was."

"Sorry."

"No. It's cute."

The sheepish look eases, as does her casual touch, and her right hand is offered. "Alex Danvers. A pleasure to meet you then, mysterious angel."

My cheeks are taut with smile and I shake her hand, ignoring the thrill of calluses as best I can. "Lena Luthor. I'm really very glad to be here finally."

"Oh good! I'm glad you're the Lena that Winn has been raving on about. We weren't expecting you until tomorrow. We're a mess! Well, I mean, I am anyway. Did you meet the others? We had plans you know, but we can totally modify that to make you feel welcome and not… well…"

Wow, from charming to gay disaster in the space of a handshake. She just keeps getting better and better! My smile goes teasing and I can't stop the flirtatious tone.

"We'll dance like fools in your shop?"

The heavy snort of a scoff is hilarious and Alex waves me off, snarking, "please. I have no dignity left. My life is a non-creepy version of the Truman Show."

The rush of laughter is intoxicating, making her grin in delight.

"I have to say, Alex Danvers, you're everything I hoped for."

She likes that, preening a bit. "Yeah?"

Emboldened, I grab her hand and tug, gently imploring her. "I brought my family. Come meet them?"

"Yeah. Yeah, of course!"

And, grabbing her jacket, she lets me pull her away to meet the rest of me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That Alex/Lena meeting right there? (FINALLY) Has been one of the driving forces of this entire saga. It was an early mental image, at last freed to the world in all its wordy glory.
> 
> The music video is 'Call Me Maybe- Coyote Kisses Remix' by Carly Rae Jepson. And it has to be the remix, dammit! :D
> 
> Alex's embarrassing song is 'Shake It' by Metro Station. The best of use of all time is the Montage in D.E.B.S.
> 
> shatterpath So, Pour Some Sugar On Me comes on the radio, right? All I could see was FarmerAlex dancing around the barn as she's cleaning up. Lotta hip action and using the rake as a mike stand. Lena of course watching all this, hungry (as a wolf? LOL! I crack myself up.)  
> mandylynnw Hahahaha. Ok that’s hilarious. And A plus pun.  
> shatterpath and of course, the hilarity of Alex finally spotting Lena, who is hiding her smile behind her hand, and freezing. Then she dances over like a drunk baboon and drags the pretty lady into her silliness. Later, when they find out Kara got it all recorded, they're both mortified and grateful  
> OH OH OH! WORSE!!!! Alex forgot Kara had set up a live cam in the barn! So fans could watch the critters! BAHAHAHAHHA! Lena totally goes and asks Kara to pull the footage from the buffers. for posterity of course. She forever cherishes those captured moments  
> mandylynnw Oh god. That’s my favorite Alex and Lena. So carefree and sweet.  
> shatterpath I love the idea of them dancing. I need to work that in more on fics.  
> mandylynnw Heart eyes Alex not realizing she is doing heart eyes is my fav.


	17. Start Building

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (me in IMs): Lena Luthor... driving a tractor. My life is complete
> 
> Okay, so HORRIBLE tractor safety practices here, bad Shatter! But it's too cute to delete, so I'm going to cringe and leave it.

\----  
**Sam's POV**

Lena was made to build things, to grow ideas into fruition, no matter how simple or outlandish. Over our years, a big part of me has always felt like she was wasting her talents on a single building with only a noisy club and landlording keeping her occupied.

Now, an innocent question about upcoming projects has her hunkered down to get her nerd on with Kara over the puzzle of wood and wire and a polycarbonate roof to house pretty birds simply for the pleasure of their company. A stage as big as the world or as small as a backyard aviary is good with her.

My smile borders on idiotic, I can feel it. Ruby just rolls her eyes, but her expression is soft, and Lily just giggles.

"She's gonna be gone for awhile," the youngest Luthor states in a perfect deadpan and I bark a laugh.

"Accurate!" Still smiling, I turn to a bemused Alex. "So, I supposed you're stuck with us then."

Those alert, dark eyes take in Ruby at my side and Lily peering around my hip and her warm, slow smile is like the dawn.

"I can't see how that's a bad thing."

I can feel Lily relax at that smile and I can't blame her, it's a potent charm. 

"So, as it seems Kara is off on a tear about her da-- err, stupid aviary and dragged your other mom along for the ride, we've lost them for now." The mischief in her smile is familiar and yet totally new. Gesturing at herself, the cheerful spiel continues. "I'm Alex, but I bet you already knew that." Gesturing to where the brown and white dog is glued to her hip, she continues, "and this is BP, but she's a little standoffish with strangers. Give her a bit to get used to you, okay?"

Astutely, Alex doesn't look right at Lily, but keeps her in the corner of her eye. Interesting. Seems like she's good with kids too.

"Sam," I introduce myself and offer a hand, which she quickly wraps up in hers. The grip is heavily calloused and the power behind it is as notable as the gentleness. "My daughters, Ruby and Lily."

"A gem and a flower," she flatters and earns a quiet giggle from the little bloom. Ruby looks startled when Alex lets go of my hand and extends it again. "Ruby, a pleasure to meet you."

It's been odd for awhile now, seeing my baby well on her way to being all grown up, but first are these awkward years between. Be it purposeful or this is Alex being polite by treating the teen as an equal, she's already won points as Ruby's expression warms, a bit of awe in the corners.

Yeah, kid, I feel you.

"Yeah, me too. I'm glad we made it."

"So!" Alex enthuses now that basic introductions are made. "You guys have come a long way I hear. You up for a tour?"

We Ariases are delighted, but Lily speaks up, still a bit timidly. "But what about Mama?"

"Don't you worry about Mama, sweetheart," I reassure her. "You know what she's like when she gets into a project. She'll catch up. Then you can tell her about what you get to see!"

That's good enough and she stops hiding and steps out to cling to my hand.

"After Kara runs out of steam about her feathery paradise," Alex adds with faint exasperation, but her smile is adoring, "I'm sure she'll drag your mama to join us. Now, you seem like the sort of smart kid that is curious about the animals, hmmm?"

There's no mistaking Lily perking up and she comes along willingly as I respond to Alex's gesture to follow her.

"So, you know most of our story. Did you have any questions?"

Both girls remain quiet, to my surprise, and I give Alex a little quirk of apologetic smile. She shrugs affably and that crooked smile is gentle.

"Well, feel free to ask away if you get any, 'kay? We'll go in kind of a chronological order, starting with--" she swoops her arms in a big, dramatic gesture, "--the barn!"

"It's so big," Lily murmurs and Ruby nods.

"Way bigger than it seems on screen, yeah. Oh! Lils, look, it's…"

Ruby makes a face at drawing a blank at the name of the tabby cat hanging out at the corner of the barn and Alex gently comes to her rescue. "Pepper. She's the one with the white. Senator is all tabby."

"Yeah," Lily abruptly enthuses. "I remember! You didn't want a Tony! It was funny."

"Exactly! She doesn't like to be picked up, but she might let you pet her if you don't rush at her. She and Batman and Liho and Mama B are still mostly wild. Go ahead and try. If she's not in the mood, Biscotti's always close by."

That's invitation enough for Lily to gingerly walk over and squat down to offer a small hand. After an aloof moment, Pepper must decide that everything is kosher and sniffs at Lily's fingertips before rubbing against them lightly.

That smile could warm the coldest heart.

With a sideways twist of her body, Pepper encourages a pet, which Lily delightedly obliges, pouting a bit when the tabby saunters away.

"Hey, that's pretty friendly for her. You want to cuddle my burnt cookie for a bit? Come inside the shop, but maybe don't wander. It's a mess and might not be entirely safe."

There's a strange stillness in the old barn. Not stillness… timelessness. It feels like the peacefulness of a million barns before it and a million more that will come after. A flicker of movement atop the older travel trailer crammed down the center aisle coalesces into the prick of cat ears, but the owner could be any of the three black cats.

"There you are!" Alex says to someone through a doorway to our right. "C'mere, lazy-butt, and meet more admirers."

Bent over to rub noses with a tortoiseshell who lazes atop a dusty blanket, this rugged woman is seriously the cutest damn thing. Then the black and orange mottled cat licks her nose and it gets impossibly more adorable.

"Yes, I love you too, kissyface. See that nice kid? Go say hi."

Instead, Biscotti twists onto her back and bats playfully at Alex's face, trilling a little note.

"Flirt. I bet you'd get up for a treat."

That perks up Biscotti, who scrambles to her feet and cries piteously. Grinning, Alex looks over at Lily and jerks her chin to her right.

"If you like, Lily, there's a little container of kitty crunchies over there."

And so Lily gets to feed little biscuits to her appreciative audience and is rewarded with lots of purring and friendly rubs. Biscotti even allows herself to be awkwardly held, Alex tucking up dangling paws while I make sure my starry-eyed kid doesn't trip over her own feet.

In clear deference to Lily's unusual shyness, Alex takes us on a rambling walk along the gravel where it fronts their village. It really is strange to touch and smell the things we all watched on the computer, and to listen to her voice live and in person. When I worry about leaving the RV sitting awkwardly in the middle of the road, she waves it off.

"No one here but us. Everyone's on the premises, Monica and Carol are napping and Lucy is out in the fields with the big tractor. Yes, silly cookie, I see you getting squirmy. Here, let me have her, Lily. Have no fear, she'll be plenty cuddly later when she wants to be."

Lily pouts, but lets Alex scoop up the half-grown kitten and toss her up onto a strong shoulder. As though she's done it a million times before, Biscotti meows happily and snuggles into the hood of Alex's jacket.

"When she gets bigger, I'm going to need a better cat carrier or she's going to strangle me," Alex chuckles and reaches up to dole out a rub before continuing on. She only briefly points out the other buildings in the village, wisely assuming the animals will be a bigger draw.

We're not a hundred feet out into the now-stripped garden when the expected questions start flooding out.

"Did you get enough plants to eat for winter? How long have you had your doggie? Does Biscotti do that all the time? Is your head going to get cold? Why did you adopt sheep? What are the donkey's names?"

And so it goes.

Impressively, Alex patiently answers every question, even providing some details. The barrage ends in a squeak as we approach a fence line where a crowd of herbivores have gathered. Instantly, Lily is all big eyes and returns to hiding behind me. Can't say I blame her because… they're all big. Well, the first line of them are anyway; the mammoth donkeys, the llama and even the alpaca.

In comparison, the waddling sheep and the fat little fuzzball mini donkeys look like muppets. The contrast is even sillier with their guardians sticking close. They are a quartet of very large, fluffy white dogs that watch us with disconcertingly intelligent eyes. 

"I thought you only had two livestock dogs?" Ruby asks and Alex flashes a grin at us where she's petting noses and scrubbing her palms over bony foreheads while getting sniffed over. 

"We did. They are so great that we got two young dogs for them to train. Once they're used to you guys being here, I'll introduce you. And speaking of guards, if you see a white wire mounted on these plastic knobs? Don't touch it or you'll get a nasty shock."

At least said white wire is on the inside of the woven wire fence! It takes me a moment to move past my own nervousness and coax the girls closer.

"C'mere, Sam."

Alex's calloused hand closes around my wrist and I'm tugged gently forward towards an equine head that must weigh more than I do!

"This is Davy, and he's very sweet and gentle. Now hold your hand flat so he doesn't accidently nibble your fingers."

The second giant donkey tries to shove Davy aside to get to the snack that has been placed in my hand, but Alex pulls the white and mottled brown head away.

"No, Briar, you are far too bossy for strangers. Go ahead Sam, unlike this brat, he'll wait until you offer it."

With fear receding, I see that she's telling me the truth. The huge brown-black head with those absurdly huge ears and trimmed in a white nose and spectacles isn't at all getting into my space. Unlike the curious alpaca, who sniff at the appley smell wafting up from the cookie. Unmovable as a mountain, Davy simply lets his bulk keep them from getting to close. He seems nice and the night-dark eyes are calm and restful.

Hot breath and soft, whiskery lips vacuum up the treat when I finally extend my hand and he stays close so that I can pet over his big face. His forehead isn't warm, little more than sleek, close hide stretched over bone. But when I'm brave enough to wander my hands under his chin, the fur is thick and wiry over soft, warm flesh like an enormous dog.

"Um… wow. Thank you, Davy."

As though he understands me, the donkey reaches out those flaring nostrils and breathes over my torso hot enough to feel through my jacket. It's… disconcerting and my expression must show that because Alex chuckles.

"He must like the way you smell. Lily, if you want, you can just give his nose a little pat. I know he's big, but he's not scary and really, the only dangerous part of him are those feet simply because he's so big and heavy."

"Go on, baby," I coax. "He's nice."

After a moment, Lily reaches out to pat his nose and Davy seems satisfied, snorting grassily and swinging his head away. The alpaca burble and mumble at being swept aside like water from the prow of a ship. The lanky woolies are a milling chaos of neutral colors and teddy bear faces, gathering to Alex as the other donkey follows her partner back out into the autumnal fields. 

"There's so many of them," Lily marvels at the alpaca and the sheep puffs underfoot. "How did you make up so many names?"

"They don't actually have names. Same with the sheep," Alex answers easily and Lily is clearly aghast at this.

"Then how do you tell them apart?"

"See the colored tags on their ears? I broke them down into three groups, neutral, light brown and dark brown. Each group has tags in colored sequence, so that they can be identified immediately."

"What's neutral?"

"White, black and silver. We have only one gray." Squinting into the crowd, Alex clearly spots what she wanted and crouches to point her out to Lily. "That's her. She's not really silver, but more of a bluish gray."

"She's pretty."

"She really is. Her fleece in spring is going to be magnificent."

"Did the tags hurt?"

"Probably a bit. But I bet mine were worse." Alex smiles with her tongue between her teeth and wiggles the little pale orange stud in her lower lip. "I didn't like tagging the animals, but it's too important to know who is who. Better a quick pain like getting your ears pierced, then get them mixed up."

"Why?"

"Well, we have to keep track of their weight, and when we shave off their fleece in spring, we'll know who's belonged to who, and if maybe any of them get a chance to have babies, we'll need to know who to keep a special eye out, or if they had a special diet because maybe they weren't feeling well." There was no mistaking Lily being both enlightened and exasperated with the rambling and Alex fought down a chuckle. "But the most important part is that the veterinarian knows who is who."

"Oh, okay. So that medicines are right and if someone is sick, you and the vet can pay special attention."

"Exactly. Thankfully, unlike the noisy, pain in the butt sheep, the alpaca are remarkably easy animals to keep; pretty healthy, they don't eat much and they're quiet. Even Jerkbutt."

Predictably, Lily giggles over the name.

"To be honest, I can pretty much tell them apart now, but the ear tags are safer."

The exchange signals Lily running out of steam and I'm happy to respond to her tug on my coat to be picked up. Alex coaxes us to walk a bit further where an open-sided building straddles three fences come together, the narrow lane we've been walking leading to it. There are water troughs and hay feeders and a trio of curious ostrich behind a different fence that I ignore for the succor of a rough wooden bench backed up to a big water tank.

It is a simple bliss and utterly foreign to me. It's so quiet, but not at all lifeless, which surprises me. The animals move about and mumble among themselves while a breeze makes the trees whisper and even the sound of a passing car on the asphalt road we left behind.

I'm not sure I… like it exactly, but it does tug at some foreign part of myself I've never met before.

With Ruby occupied with the curious herd and Lily mostly asleep against me, I finally feel like I can speak with Alex as she sits next to me so that her canine shadow can wedge herself up between bent knees.

"You're good with them."

That expressive mouth tips into a smile as she pets BP and strokes the floppy ears. "Yeah, well, I like kids. It's nice to interact with them in positive circumstances, y'know?"

I can see the shadows in her before she shakes it off.

"It was rare that kids weren't under duress in the emergency room. But ever so often we'd get in a school group or the like, and that was great!"

Still, there is no mistaking the melancholy in her smile.

As though sensing her favorite human's shift in mood, Biscotti climbs out of her nest and sends up a racket of meowing and purring while she rubs up against Alex's head hard enough to nearly knock herself down.

"Biss, Biss, Biss," Alex gently mocks her sidekick, who just keeps mrowing in her ear. "My Bissy baby."

"Bissy. Cute," I can't help but tease and Alex's grin turns sly.

"It lets me call her something naughty without actually saying it."

For a moment I can only blink before a belly laugh bursts out of me.

\----  
**Lena's POV**

It's so odd to hear Sam laugh like that for a stranger. For all her humor and playfulness, she is a private person, careful with her trust. And that is not a careful laugh, but a free display of delight.

Where I've been hurrying to keep up with Kara's big strides, I do my best to deal with those conflicting feelings. 

You're charismatic indeed, handsome Alex.

The ugly shadow of self-doubt, of not good enough looms, but fades when Sam turns that smile on me. Somehow, she can still make me as giddy as those early days, even after all these years.

Alex braces Biscotti and jumps up to gesture for me to take her seat before retreating off to where Ruby remains fascinated with the animals. I take the offer willingly. That's a long walk on some uneven ground and my ankles are feeling it!

"Looks like I missed the tour," I complain mildly as I snuggle into Sam's side and pet my daughter, soundly napping against that lanky torso.

Tease that she is, Sam murmurs, "you were doing architecture porn with the sister, you hussy."

I don't even try to resist the urge to poke her sharply in the ribs.

The subsequent jump and chuckle wakes Lily with a petulant whine and she squirms around to snuggle into me instead. "Too squirmy, Mom," she grumbles. 

We're still snickering when the approaching rumble of engine heralds Lucy atop the surprisingly large Kubota.

"Hey, you the Patreon folks? A pleasure. Want a proper farm ride back in? Nia's sent out the lunch bell." 

Shaking a cell phone at us earns smiles and well, when in Rome…

Somehow, in the scuffle of the whole lot of us converging on the orange tractor, I find myself in the driver's seat. Lucy set the bucket just above ass level before bailing out to join Kara in settling into the filthy curve of steel as though it were a giant, mobile bench. It honestly doesn't surprise me that Sam and Ruby exchange a glance and follow suit. Before Lily can object, Alex has hopped up onto the wheel guard and held out a hand with a grin…

And here I am in the driver's seat of a tractor as big as any SUV, even without the huge scoop or the backhoe jutting from the rear like a mechanical tail, so that my seven year old daughter can steer the thing. The rest of our family laughs in delight at being bounced about in the big scoop out at the front of the lumbering vehicle.

"You're doing great, both of you," Alex encourages. "A nice easy speed and no sudden steering moves. It's a cool tractor, right?"

Whooping it up like she's a NASCAR driver, Lily is having the time of her life. And while I am most certainly not, I can't stay too alarmed with Alex crouched at my shoulder, keeping us all safe.

The lurch up onto the gravel road bounces Kara clean out of the bucket, Ruby nearly following suit. With a deft dance move, Kara braces the teen and twists out of the way of the Kubota's admittedly slow speed. Alex contorts herself nearly over my head to avoid the fiberglass canopy clamped to the rollbar in order to reach out and give her sister's upraised hand a smack. All within breathing distance of a tire more than four feet tall.

Madness.

The rest of the farm family is waiting at the very wide steps, applauding the spectacle. I'm not certain if I like the attention, but the support is nice.

"This is good, Lena. Just leave it in the middle of the road."

"You're sure?"

"Totally. Check it out."

Reaching out, she touches a lever on the right and the bucket suddenly drops, dumping the occupants onto stumbling feet. Lily squeals with laughter as a twist of the ignition key has the noisy diesel engine falling silent.

We get to meet Carol and Monica, amused at that shy and bold way of children meeting that passes between Monica and Lily in particular. Though I am getting concerned about Lily in particular getting over-stimulated and having a bit of a meltdown. Particularly as this crowd is so effusive and eager in their welcome.

Somehow, Alex picks up on it, shouting down her pack of wild dogs. "Guys, guys! Bring it down a notch. They'll be here for a week and a half and have lots of time to do everything. For now, lunch and then we'll get everyone settled in."

We visitors are swept along in the wave of energy and voices past a clutter of outdoorsy equipment and down a corridor between the two shed homes built for Kara and Nia. Live and in person they don't seem so small, I have to admit. Then we're at the bathhouse with its wide overhangs and smelling of fried food and fresh lavender. There is glimpses of green and white paint and wood trim we've seen in videos, lit with watery sunlight through the huge windows. Then the tide of bodies deposits us in the big central room that is half kitchen-dining and half couches-television-hearth. 

I'll be honest, I'm a little overwhelmed as I'm herded into the longer side of L-shaped bench seat after Sam, Lily sandwiched between us and Ruby crowded into my side. A far too small table for the crowd stretches away from us, rickety-looking trays set up at the end to extend the real estate. 

There's a certain relief that we're half ignored for the moment, folded in with the crowd as trays come out, piled with plates and silverware bundled in dark blue cotton napkins. There are stacked cups and a huge bowl of ice, pitchers of water and apple juice, carafes of coffee beside mismatched mugs and a jumble of condiments.

Then comes the food.

Bowls big enough to bathe a cat in are piled with roasted vegetables and a full four whole chickens baked to a perfect brown-gold. There are two loaves of crispy-crusted bread sliced thick, ceramic pots of butter and jam, a huge tureen of gravy and a gargantuan pile of salad that round everything out.

And this is lunch?

Sam shrugs and hands over her plate when Alex gestures for it and soon a pile of food is handed back. When I nervously do the same, it's feast enough that I'm fairly certain that I could feed myself and both kids!

The racket tapers off to murmurs and the clacking of flatware speckled with conversation and laughter.

"Have some, baby," I encourage Lily. "I can't eat all of this myself."

Kara plies Ruby with just as much food as had been given to Sam and I and also looks faintly alarmed.

"Don't worry about finishing if you don't want," Alex reassures with a smile. "If we don't vacuum up your scraps, the pigs will."

"Fair," I agree with her amiably, startled at Sam's sexy hum of delight as she digs in.

A sound I echo when I taste a forkful of chicken and roasted potatoes. 

Honestly, I have no idea what it is about the delicious meal that it so extraordinary, but nonetheless, it certainly is. Lily's nibbling quickly becomes robbing my plate before she shyly asks Alex if she could have some too. Luckily there is just enough of the feast left to half fill the plate that shifts from hand to hand around the table until it returns to a delighted Lily.

Somehow, I finish what's left, even if my poor stomach is whining about the feat.

"Kara, your Patreon message did promise that Nia is an even better cook than we realized and you weren't exaggerating. Nia, this is amazing!" 

My gushing delights Kara, who turns that sunny grin on a shyly grateful Nia. "Told you!"

There is no rest for the farm crew, all of them leaping up to stack their dishes, Kara and Brainy setting in on the cleanup. The others begin scattering, Alex gesturing for us to come to her. In moments, quiet has fallen, only the bumps and splashes of dishes being washed left behind.

"I wanted to make sure you were familiar with this building, because anyone on the homestead has free run of it, 'kay?"

Ruby must make some movement that catches Alex's attention and she says, "in the videos, I'm pretty sure we've never seen upstairs."

That startles Alex. "Really? Well, hell, come on then!"

Strong arms herd us back the way we'd come and I can't complain about the fleeting touch of them on my back. A switchback flight of stairs takes us to the second floor and an oversized foyer with a big window, choked with plants hanging on steel pipes and resting on open grate shelves.

"So, there's three full bathrooms up here, big and spacious since everyone lives tiny. Throw the lock and the dial flips to 'occupied'. They were a nightmare to find, but Winn managed it."

We troop past three doors standing open to show glimpses of well-dressed bathrooms with cathedral ceilings come to the steep peak of the roof above. A fourth leads to a cozy little loft crowded with a rustic pool table that overlooks the downstairs, the sounds of washing carrying to us.

"Yeah, the drawback is that it's open to the whole clubhouse. One of those things we didn't think about when designing and building," Alex explains sheepishly and shrugs. Adorable. "It was sorta supposed to be a little living room, hence the TV on the wall, but we use the table more. So feel free to use this or the entertainment center downstairs, no prob."

Abruptly, Lucy's disembodied voice bursts from downstairs. "Yeah, we busted our asses before the open house to make sure everything was family-friendly. Just stay out of the individual houses, huh?" 

Lucy cackles at her own terrible humor while Alex just looks pained. "Sorry about the cussing."

Her consternation induces giggling from the whole lot of us. Yes, even me. Before Sam can come up with something, I jump in.

"Oh, we figured the beeping out wasn't for aesthetics."

That makes Ruby actually crack up.

  
  



	18. Fascination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last! We finally get Alex's take on events. Brace yourselves, it's a wild ride! Lol
> 
> PS: chapters 18 &19 were originally one, but it was an 8,000+ behemoth, so I broke it in half. Alex had some shit to say! :)

\----  
**Alex's POV**

When Winn excitedly told us about the shocking Patreon donation, I was as deliriously excited as everyone else on the homestead.

What I hadn't expected was two of the most startlingly attractive women I've ever laid eyes on to show up. They have undeniable physical attractiveness, sure --no one would deny that-- but it's more than that. They're charismatic and curious and have the sort of eyes that make me trip over myself like an idiot.

The kids are great too, adorable little Lily who I'd bet my tattoos isn't normally this shy, and Ruby, trying so hard to be a teenager it's almost cute. Her prickliness doesn't fool me for an instant. Shave off fifteen years and I was her.

It's easier to focus on the kids when I can, though I have a million questions for their hot moms, but better to keep that locked up in my damn head so that I don't forget how to word. Eventually I'll be able to function around them… maybe.

In the meantime, I better stick to business. 

"If we head back to the kitchen, we can finish the tour, or let you guys get some rest or maybe something fun to do--" god, down girl, for fuck sake, "--or, you know, whatever."

So smooth.

With effort I manage to not smack myself in the forehead and suffice with jamming both hands in my pockets and heading downstairs. I can only hope taking the lead hides the traitorous heat warming my face and ears.

"I guess we'd best get settled in so that we don't feel pressured later," Sam says as we get back to the kitchen and I gratefully latch onto the neutral subject. 

"Sure thing! We've got a spot just on the other side of the pool where there's an RV hookup and plenty of space to put out an awning and set up an outdoor area if you'd like."

I admit that I'm puzzled over Sam's sheepish look that earns a completely delightful girlish giggle from Lena --and I'm not going to be over-charmed by them, I'm not dammit-- a sound echoed almost perfectly by Lily. Sam's gaze is pure, loving exasperation.

"To be honest, I'm not looking forward to doing something as insane as backing that damn thing up."

Oh thank Hygeia and Panacea(*), a task I can distract myself with!

"Oh, we can help with that. If you hand over the keys, we'll get your wheels settled in. Don't worry, Brainy has a gift with large vehicles. Speaking of which," I turn to mockingly yell at my pal. "Brainy! We need to get your trailer moved before we get snow!"

Unimpressed with the dramatics, he raises an eyebrow before replying. "Indeed. I will work towards that goal immediately."

"RV first."

The demand is supposed to be playful, honestly, but my internal disaster lesbian stressing shines through, raising that eyebrow even more, Kara echoing the expression where she's paused in cleaning.

"The RV will block access to my workshop."

Set a good example, Alex, and apologize.

"Oh, right, of course. Sorry, I was being pushy."

"There is no need for an apology, but thank you. As the Kubota has returned from morning chores, moving my trailer can be completed immediately."

"Done. Lucifer! Come make your foul little self useful!"

That sets in motion a flurry of activity, Lucy popping out of the back room of the kitchen and Sam eagerly handing off the keys to their rental RV.

My brain, in all of its distracted glory, is already off and running to try and escape the reality of the hot, married ladies. The big table isn't enough anymore, already a tad crowded for our daily count of eight that can swell to eleven when Maggie, Sara, and Aves are all here. We fake it, but Nia hates the Tiny Terrors and Sara sitting on her clean counters so they can be close, feet tucked in among whoever is sitting in the banquette and tumbling crumbs on them periodically. We're already a bit of a frat house and those meals make it like feeding time at the zoo. Our guests would make us a full fifteen and that's not even planning ahead for random visits like my folks or neighbors!

So yeah, gotta get on that ASAP. And, I was supposed to work on the coops today. With winter bearing down, I don't want it to get left too long. The supplies of chick starter for ostrich and chicken alike are getting low and the former has to come in from California. And that damn firewood shipment was due yesterday. I need to call them and find out what the hell the delay is…

"Alex!"

"Huh? What?"

Kara is staring at me like I've lost my mind and the great-room is completely empty except for the two of us.

"Where did everybody go?"

"God, I swear, Alex, you disaster. You spaced out like five minutes ago and scared our guests off. Brainy and Lucy have the RV in hand, and your hot moms are supervising. They look a little chilled and the kids are going to get bored fast."

Kara gives me a completely unimpressed look as I grin cheekily at her. "Guess I better go then."

One of the many great things that has come of this new life is an openness that is hard to put to words. City living forces us inward to protect our self and sanity so often, especially if you're a woman. Crowds shorten your stride, indoor spaces so often discourage loudness, we're conditioned to not annoy others we are forced into close quarters with.

Here? Here is just we few and more space than any of us have ever known to run loose in. I like my longer stride, feeling the muscles I've worked hard for bunch and stretch. I like taking up space!

As I leave the bathhouse, a flicker of movement over to my left diverts my path. Sure enough, in the eight-ish foot alley between the main village deck and Brainy's barn, the visitors have clustered to watch their temporary home get settled in. As I walk down the triple steps, the leaden skies finally release some of their load in a pissy drizzle.

"You got better warms in there?" I tease and they all jump and turn around. "I hope, 'cause for a bunch of New Yorkers, you guys don't know how to layer worth shit."

While the moms and Ruby look at me sourly, Lily just giggles over my cussing. Behind them, the ass end of Brainy's trailer pokes past the corner of the building and joggles back and forth a bit as I talk.

"All teasing aside, I can help with that if you like. Get you into some proper farm clothes. Oh, and here's your ride now."

Carol is at the ass end of the RV, gesticulating towards the nose end and firing off the occasional insult. The big machine drifts close enough to the edge of the swimming pool that I hear at least one of the hot moms draw in a sharp breath. Then the transmission thumps and the engine falls silent. At the rate Carol and Lucy are laughingly berating each other, I better get my charges out of here.

"They'll finish up. Come on."

Once back at the barn, I automatically listen in for my various charges, which is mostly the cats during daylight hours. I can't hear the new kittens over the noises of the New Yorkers, but that's okay, I'll check in on them later.

The shop is still a shock in how the stillness trapped behind insulation makes the space so much warmer. If I'd managed to get the damn floor cemented in, well…

Let it go, Alex. Shit takes time and the drafty ass walls are sealed up so your fingers are more likely to stay intact in the chill of winter.

"I have stacks of warms that you guys can use," I call over my shoulder as I head for the backroom to hunt down the right box. It's always a bit of a shock to see how much crap we've accumulated in such a short period of time. Giving the box a punch in case of lurking spiders --god, I hate spiders-- I haul it back into the shop to thump it down. Even as I start talking, I note what they had each been looking at, eager for ideas to entertain them.

"Tada! This is mostly me with a little from Luce, since we bulked up and outgrew stuff we already had. Kara and Brainy had to pretty much start from scratch for winter clothes. Straight from Seattle, land of flannel and fleece!"

Pulling back the flaps with dramatic flourish, I dump the mess across my worktable. Without hesitation, Lily goes for the only purple thing I own, clearly delighted with it, despite its size. That's signal enough to her family to dig in. Parking my butt on my work stool, I watch them and make conversation.

"We got really good at scouring secondhand shops for clothes when down in the valley. Luckily, there's a lot of farmland down there and a major college just south, so the pickings are generally pretty good."

"This is good material," Lena notes as she rubs a pinch of soft cotton between her fingers. It shouldn't look as suggestive as it does and I have to shake off my distraction.

"Uh, yeah. I've always been picky about what goes against my skin and little if any of this is cheap stuff. One of the reasons why I held on to it, just in case. I'm a big fan of cotton and prefer material blends to be at least eighty percent or better. It was a pain in the ass to get scrubs that didn't make me squirm. Sorry, language again."

The collection is a tangle of flannel, fleece and button-ups with little stretch. It's split about even between colors and somber neutrals, and most of the colorful stuff has been gifts from Kara over the years. I miss my old cottons, worn down to buttery soft and just that right shade of grungy. 

Fleece, while not as comfortable in its staticy, felty plasticness, is light, stretchy and so very Pacific Northwest. There's only a few pieces in the box, stuff that pulled at me just enough to be annoying and all of it is snatched up by my visitors. Lucy is going to die laughing to see little Lily swimming around in that hot fuchsia monstrosity Ava bought her last Christmas just to outrage Sara, and Lena has my favorite; blue, thick and kitten-soft, whose seams had finally pulled tight enough at my neck to be given up. Oddly, Sam sticks to black, but has also doubled up on layers of colorful flannel underneath. Ruby likes the solids, some duller flannel covered by crimson red.

While they dig through the mess, I call the firewood company and get a confirmation for the next day. At least our being able to accept the delivery any time of day gets us taken care of reasonably quickly.

There's a weird twang in the base of my brain in seeing the four of them in my clothes. Shaking off whatever the hell that was, I grin wide.

"Much better! You'll fit right in as New York bohemians. Grab what's left for later use. Later we'll find an afternoon to head down and hit the secondhand shops. Yes, Lena, I see that expression. The joy of secondhand clothing is that destroying it with farm life holds no guilt."

She is clearly the most cultured of her family, making a face but nonetheless shrugging into a black and white flannel with the blue fleece over that, only to find her stylish puffy coat no longer fits. She sighs and tucks her hands into it.

"Fair, I suppose."

With that settled amicably enough, I carry on. "Now, we didn't finish the tour, but it's still raining outside. And maybe later, you can help me and Kara collect eggs." For a moment I'm baffled that Lily looks so alarmed, then it clicks and I choke down a laugh. "Chicken eggs. No going near the ostriches. As I'm sure you saw the video where I got dropped, I don't really need to say why, right?"

They all nod emphatically. 

"Actually, I hadn't really thought about you coming along, junior. Tell you what, we'll set some ground rules in the morning, okay? Nothing to awful, I promise. In the meantime, just stick to an adult or two. 

"It's not just the ostrich that can be dangerous, but the big donks could stomp and not even realize they did it, and their little cousins are mean cusses when they want to be. Never --and I'm dead serious about this-- never trust a pig once they get bigger than a medium sized dog. They are dangerous and can easily be deadly and they are always hungry and will eat just about anything."

Now the city girls look alarmed and even a bit squeamish. Good. I'm not trying to be an ass, but pigs are serious business. Lightening up my tone, I finish up my little rant. 

"So far we haven't seen anything bigger than coyotes, but there's no way there's not cougar somewhere in these forests. Thankfully, they don't like being around us any more than we like being around them, but the warning is valid."

Clearly trying to make conversation, Sam manages to find some words. "I didn't even know you had pigs."

"Yep. Two older ones and eight piglets kept apart from them. They're way out at the fringes of the pasture and were getting moved around just like everyone else during the summer. It's a long walk, well, drive, because we need the small tractor to haul food and water, but the further away the better because they start to stink a bit after a few days in one place."

Yeah, this is clearly too much for them and I rub my forehead in exasperation with myself. I'm not normally such a damn blabbermouth. 

"Anyway, don't worry about it. So, while we're in here, I noticed that we don't fit the dining table anymore. Like at all. Would you guys like to help me out with that?"

Their nervous worry turns to stereo curiosity and I'll take that as a win. Still, the moment is awkward, but I decide it's cute and gesture around me.

"Help choose the wood and even maybe help me build it?"

For a moment they all still look confused, but then Lily gets excited, looking to her mothers. Ruby is at least intrigued, but she's trying not to be obvious about it. Ah, to be a teenager again. Not.

I suppose the rag tag collection of tools hanging on the walls isn't inspiring confidence. Some of them look like they were dug out of a landfill or were medieval torture devices. And that isn't even getting into most of the power tools. There was little point buying most of them new until I figured out how much I would use them. Upgrading takes time and an intimidating investment. So far hanging them on sheets of plywood dotted with screws and long nails and loops of strings have sufficed, but one of my winter tasks will be a permanent safe place for each thing.

Clearly, the hot moms are going to need a little persuasion, so I dredge up what charm I can. 

"When I was a doctor, I had nurses and staff who set up our tools the same way every time, so we always had them and didn't need to really think about where they were and could focus on our patients. They also did the cleaning up, and I tried to pitch in when I could. I was one of the few, unfortunately. The medical industry --and make no mistake that it's just that, an industry-- is hard on the people in its ranks. And too many doctors take advantage of their status to heap work or abuse on those that work for them. Few people are as underappreciated as nurses and medical staff, and it sucks because doctors are one hundred percent useless without them. There's a handful of them I still miss."

Shaking off the wistfulness of memory, I gesture to the sloppy but organized sheets of plywood adorned with my tool collection.

"One thing I've tried really hard to make a habit is putting my damn tools away. If I didn't, my old nurses might find me and kick my butt. And I know it looks messy and haphazard, but I have to see my tools. Again, from being an emergency room doctor."

Utterly deadpan, Sam says, "so you need a shop nurse?"

My laughter is real.

Racing off into the rain to get my truck, I pull it up to the barn where my guests wait to pack in. Despite the king cab turning the machine from 'overlarge' to 'behemoth', it's been incredibly handy.

Past the barn, I follow the road where it curls around the edge of the turtleback hill that defines the northern edge of the village. My speed is barely above 'crawl', but it's worth it to see how the family ogles the scenery.

"Is the bridge strong enough?" Lena suddenly asks tensely and I nod in reassurance.

"Yep. We did some reinforcing to ensure it's solid before we get in a permanent bridge. That one will be concrete and steel. We'll get on the permits this winter and spring, and it might take both. The stream is salmon habitat and there are strict rules, which is fine, just slow."

"What sort of rules?" Ruby asks as we break into the bridge's clearing and I slow to a stop on the wooden deck. The water is moderately high right now. Nothing like the spring melt, but still, a good show.

"We have to be extra careful to not disturb the habitat, which means not just keeping the water clear, but not disturbing the bottom of the stream, because that's where they lay their eggs. You guys saw the old lakebed coming in, right? The dam that made the lake was ripped out not just because it was old, but because it blocked the salmon from moving freely up into the mountain streams. Now that they can do that again, the government agents are extra careful about the streams. We're lucky that the ridge separates the village from the stream and we could run septic into that field away from the rocky drop-off behind the buildings. By the time water leaks out of the field, it's been cleaned up by the infrastructure and the tons of earth between it and the stream."

I swear this YouTube shit has made me a damn talking head. At least I had practice training the Junior Woodchuck interns and new doctors. 

The road beyond the bridge is still rough, but I mowed it and brought over a couple tractor-buckets of gravel for the worst divots and gullies. From the dwarfing gloom of the rainy forest, the grayness brightens as the trees fall away and the first warehouse looms up. Parking at the first of the big doors, I twist a bit to talk to my passengers. 

"Just give me a sec to jog over to the person door and I'll open the big one here from inside. Hang tight!"

Doing that and flicking on the lights only takes a moment and I'm back in the truck to pull it inside and out of the rain.

"This is the one with the damaged roof," Lena notes as we all climb into the cool stillness of the warehouse.

"Yep! You can see my patch job over there. I kept the wood stacks away from it, just in case the snow caves it in again. Behold the collection!"

There was a lot of YouTube watching of dudes that love sawing logs into boards and stacking them with sticks between the slabs to let them air dry. Unfortunately for this crew, most of our sort of business is done by men. Boring. At least there's a few welcome exceptions.

"I have something in mind, if we want to get a little wild. I love the firs and hemlocks, but when we were bringing down some trees, we also got a few cedars."

The cedars really are gorgeous, rich cream and warm reddish tones layered like pattern steel and I haven't wanted to waste the wood on just anything. That I get to show off my strength in moving slabs has nothing to do with it.

Even I don't believe that.

The saved trees were sliced into long planks which were then stacked in order with little junk sticks spaced along the flat faces to give them a bit of airflow to dry. Thank you, YouTube! Some of these have been stacked here since we built the bridge five months ago and I have one special specimen in mind. Really, they should have at least six months, but I'm hoping I can push my luck because we really do need a much larger table.

"Keep back, these things are heavy."

With a grunt and a crash, the top board is down. Unless I get clever, it's a useless thing, the outside curve of the trunk with a curved backing of hairy cedar bark. But it's the smallest piece and will show an example of the grain within. So I brace myself, get a good grip near the center and haul it over to the still-open door. Resting the slab against the doorframe, I brush off some of the lingering dust and wood particulate. 

"I've used some smaller pieces of this tree for little projects, but have saved these huge beams, hoping for something special to happen."

"Like a new dining table?" Lena asks and crouches down beside me to stroke the wood. "It's beautiful."

It takes real effort to not get lost in her elegant profile, a soft smile gentle on her mouth. Really, this is the worst place for crushes, dumbass. 

Luckily for me, the cedar is a big hit, though after moving the first couple of slabs, I realize that moving these beasts isn't just difficult, it's dangerous. They're more than twelve feet long and two inches thick, their edges crumbly with dried bark. When we stacked these months ago, there was a whole damn lot of us. And tractors. Which I am clearly going to need again.

"Okay, guys, I'm going to need mechanical help to do this without getting hurt. How about I run you back to your RV to settle in for a bit and I'll grab one of my team to help me out. Later, you can help me go through some pictures and find a nice table to try and duplicate."

There's some disappointment and relief in them. Understandable, as it's been a big day and these old warehouses can be a bit creepy. We pile back into the truck and don't bother to close the big door up, since I'll be right back. Despite it being close to midday, the rain has everything gloomy as dusk, particularly in the heavy forest. Lights are on here and there in the village, the sight of which still fills me with a deeply satisfied warmth. Past the yurt, I turn down the smaller gravel road and pass between the Rambeau's cabin and my little green house. Another left has me skimming past the porous concrete pad poured behind mine and Brainy's places, now crowded with the travel trailer and the big RV.

"Oh good, the gang got you all prepped."

Sure enough, the RV is lit up from within, awning and slide-outs deployed, even a big rectangle of outdoor carpeting from our piles of crap laid out at the foot of the step. Pulling right onto said carpet, I drop the truck into park and twist to smile at them.

"Take your time, we have lots of it. The wifi is excellent and unsecured because, really, who's going to steal it out here? There's also excellent cell service because a lot of the townies are also ex-city slickers and had a really nice telecomm tower put in long before we got here. Brainy's got us on surprisingly reliable fixed direction wireless and… you don't really care about all this, do you?"

There is something to be said for being adorable when you're rambling like an idiot. At least I hope I am, because the four of them are smiling, so it can't be that bad, right?

"So, yeah, no rush. We'll get you on the farm group chat to keep track of where everyone is and what we're doing, okay?"

Nods all around, and Lena, who took the passenger seat, reaches out to give my arm a squeeze. "Thank you for everything."

"Yeah, of course, I mean, you too."

God I'm an idiot.

Thankfully, I find myself alone in the truck to catch my breath. It's been a long time since I've been unnerved so badly by a couple of hotties. I swear this is like being a teenager again.

No, this is worse.

* = Hygeia and Panacea, the ancient Greek goddesses of prevention and cure.


	19. By Firelight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold the Gay Disaster in the wild! :D
> 
> I love Alex forever and ever, amen.

\----  
 **Alex's POV**

After having a mental meltdown for a few long moments, I zap a message off to Kara, who thankfully,  
agrees to help me out. A minute later she trots out of Brainy's barn, the second floor of which is currently her studio. I back the truck up to minimize how long she has to be out in the rain and she hops in. "Hey you. How's the visitors? You vanished pretty quick with them."

Kara's teasing is both better and worse. She's thankfully incapable of Lucy's admittedly hilarious sleaze, but Kara also knows how to get under my skin better.

"Well, yeah, we should keep them occupied."

My dissembling doesn't fool Kara for a second, her expression somehow both skeptical and smug. Lucky for me, there's a task to be done and that takes over. We take both tractors to the warehouse, each armed with pallet forks on their front buckets and the Deere hauling the larger trailer. 

Once the trailer is in position, I use the big Kubota to pick up the slabs and Kara helps stabilize wood and trailer both with the John Deere. We're all good at this sort of collaboration now after so many months of practice. Then it's ratchet straps on the wood and back to the barn to unload it. Unfortunately, the trailer won't fit into my shop, bonking alarmingly into the wood-fired cookstove and getting Kara yelling at me. So we're forced to unload the boards by hand. Even when the others come to help, it's an exhausting chore that eats up most of the afternoon. The wood has to acclimate to warmer, dryer conditions or I'd have just left the damn stuff on the trailer.

At least the rain stopped. Which reminds me. Shaking off the strain and tiredness of the now-finished task, I thank the others as they scatter back to what they had been doing before, then grin at Nia. "I'm pretty sure I'm on the docket for dinner help today. Think we can manage a cookout?"

"Actually, that's a great idea. Four extra mouths have me all discombobulated!"

I easily agree to go nose through the garden to see if we've missed anything edible while Nia heads for the clubhouse. A quick stop in the barn has me grabbing a couple of buckets from the stacks of them we've hoarded all year. One important lesson we all learned early on is never underestimate the sheer usefulness of a five gallon bucket around the farm. 

In honor of our guests, I search the last few rows of sweet corn and strip every cob I find before stomping the plant to the ground. I'll collect them in the morning to toss to the pigs along with the bits left from our dinner. It's quite a haul, overfilling one bucket and leaving the other for random squashes and beans found among the dying plants. I even score a sneaky green-skinned pumpkin hiding in the zucchini plants that nothing but a really hard frost seems to faze.

Lopping off the heads from a couple of the remaining mammoth sunflowers, I tuck them under my arms and grab my booty to head in. Luckily, experience has shown that I can help prep meals without incident. It's just the actual cooking that I'm cursed at. Seriously, it's bizarre. No matter how I've tried, liquid boils over or cooks off freakishly fast, things burn, often spectacularly so, and I've even ruined appliances with a touch. But I'm allowed to wash and cut and group ingredients. Just keep me away from the stove or other heat sources. Except over open fire in the outdoors. No, I have no idea why, but grilling is a random skill I seem to have a knack for, go figure. And it gives Nia a break from feeding us all the time. Besides, we love the camaraderie of being clustered around our beloved fire-pit.

I peel open the corn cobs only enough to check their conditions, chucking the gross ones into the green trashcan that goes out to the pigs and chickens. Pretty much anything that isn't fatty bits of meat, raw alliums or citrus peels goes out to them. Handy beasties, and so tasty!

With so many hungry mouths to feed --and we're all big eaters here-- Nia always has plenty thawed and ready to go. She's even remembered to pull out extra from the freezers in preparation for the guests we thought we'd have for tomorrow. Some of it is still a little crunchy, so I pull out what can be cooked immediately, but it won't be enough. Then I spot something down at the bottom of the huge fridge and give it a poke. Yep, soft. And I know that shape.

"Hey, sis? You got plans for this fish?"

"I did, but it would be nice in the coals."

"Shit! I need to get the fire started!"

"Relax, Brainy's on it. Oh, there's some ribs and a roast in the other fridge if we want to tuck those in around the coals to cook in prep for other meals."

"Done!"

With enough protein for three meals, I hunt down bowls of veg and get to work. First is the long cook stuff, encased in cast iron or wrapped snugly in foil, which I run out to Brainy to watch over. We place the packages around the edges of the greatly expanded pit where they'll start soaking up the heat. As I turn to head back into the clubhouse, I catch sight of the ubiquitous tripod near him, camera lens flickering in the gathering dimness.

I need to ask Sam and Lena how they feel about those.

Aluminum foil is one of those necessary evils that can't be recycled, though I've had everyone saving the stuff in a few steel drums that are getting rank, frankly. I want to see if I can melt it down and cast it into something useful. Cans too, which we've left in a pile for the bees to clean out. Though there's more ants than bees now. Time to get on that melting!

Getting lost in the rhythm of slicing and sorting and wrapping, I let time fade away. A lot of this good food came from our fumbling efforts this year, and next year will be so much better! Much of the rest of it has been gleaned from locals or the trips to farmer's stands and markets. Carol wanders in and immediately sits herself down across the table from me and helps out. Another thing to love about how we've all come to live here.

Proteins and vegetables done, I wash up while Carol runs out the next set of longer-cook items. Pretty soon the horde will descend and I want to get some proper desserts ready as well. After all, our guests are on vacation! A little spoiling is in order.

"You weren't kidding about cleaning me out. There's only twelve of us and one is very small."

Nia's teasing flusters me and I can't even get a response formulated when one of the sets of double glass doors on the east end of the clubhouse opens to let in said guests.

"Now here I thought you were hapless in the kitchen," Lena teases and that smile should be illegal. Combined with an echoed smirk on Sam's face and I'm left stupid again.

"Oh, she is," Nia teases back. "And Kara is just as bad. Luckily, it's only the actual cooking part. Prep work is safe enough and grilling seems to ignore the cooking curse, so we keep them on that duty in order to keep the kitchen from burning down. We built the outdoor kitchen half-specifically for that."

Nia takes her job of little sister #2 very seriously, lucky me.

"There's an outdoor kitchen?" Sam and her family are clearly intrigued, but Nia jumps in before I can.

"Oh, did you miss that? Alex, what sort of tour guide are you anyway?"

At last a chance to defend myself. "One that got distracted by lunch!"

"Excuses, excuses. If the weather had stayed wet, we'd have gone out there, but it would have been crowded and a bonfire is always more fun!" 

With the newest round of 'let's tease Alex' done, Nia grabs up what she can carry and puts the newcomers to work doing the same. They've got that in hand, even Lily proudly gripping the pumpkin to her chest. To make them more comfortable, I dig around and find a stack of ratty blankets and even a heavy utilitarian rug like the sort meant to wipe your feet on.

Outside, Brainy has a nice bonfire going, carefully feeding in construction scraps and split logs. Team New York seems at a loss of what to do, jumping a bit when I approach.

"Hey guys. You can leave your goodies on the table there for Nia, and Lily, why don't you bring that pumpkin to the fire pit and I'll show all of you what we're doing?"

The first piles of coals have been shoveled out from the round end of the keyhole-shaped fire pit a viewer had suggested. Kara is carefully fishing out more from the bonfire, characteristically seeming to be unaware of the heat so close by. Honestly, I swear that girl barely feels cold or heat. It's freaky. 

Even with the basic explanations, my telling Lily to plunk her pumpkin right into the coals gets big, startled eyes.

"But won't it burn?"

"Nope. Watch what Kara does."

The pumpkin rolls and hisses irritably in the glowing coals and Kara expertly wields two metal pushers with their flattened ends at ninety degree angles from each other. In moments, the squash is set upright and has a ring of heat around it for even cooking.

"See, fire cooks fast and can burn food easily, but coals work like an oven, slow and steady. Kara is really good at keeping temperatures and I'm good at knowing when the food is just right."

And that's my cue to direct the hot moms to the mound of warms I dragged out for them and get to work. I found a minute to change for the task, a thin t-shirt under a thick vest and a lighter weight coat. Inside fifteen minutes I'm sleeveless and the vest is open completely. I love doing this, delighted to have found a niche where I can actually help feed my chaotic little family. Brainy is as skilled as any nurse in assisting me at the myriad tasks while Kara keeps up the steady progression of spent flame rendered to glowing heat.

The damn salmon takes up an annoying amount of real estate, but Maria is once again the most astute of our numbers and has dragged out the grate from their little backyard grill to toss down to increase the cooking room. From the two grates and a little collection of cast iron, comes piles of classic picnic fare: thick chili, mountains of roasted veggies, even a handful of tortillas warmed and browned to perfection, if I don't say so myself. Big bowls and trays contain the bounty at the closest table and the twelve of us are a big, noisy crowd of food and laughter.

It's delightful to see that Ruby and Monica seem to have hit it off, sticking close to Lily, who is more interested in her dinner than them. There's a hilarious byplay of childish indignation when Sam keeps stealing little bits from her plate, clearly a familiar game between them. Lena barely seems to notice when Sam does the same to her. Ruby just stays out of reach.

"This is so much food," the teen marvels. "It's like being at school!"

"Boarding school, huh?" Lucy chimes in knowingly and Ruby nods. "Yeah, I remember those days. We always cook way too much on these outdoor nights. Makes for excellent leftovers and meal starters."

Everyone is too stuffed for the potatoes rolled into the coals, though they provide some entertainment in the visitor's horror over the spuds gone naked and foil-less.

"It's just a little ash," I laugh and stack them in an emptied pan for later. The pumpkin shrivels and steams lightly and eventually Kara and I gather tools to carefully push and prod it into a steel bowl to slowly half-collapse in on itself. I coax Lilly to try a little piece cut from it to marvel over the flavor. She's been edging closer and closer, clearly curious, and I'm completely charmed. 

Besides, she's an excellent distraction from her very sexy moms sitting very close by looking very cozy and, well, sexy, in their blanket nest and bathed in firelight. We've all been sitting around chilling or chatting comfortably and I'm having a harder time keeping my eyes to myself. They're all still in my hand-me-downs and it's not helping. I need a distraction and now.

"Hey Kar?"

Kara stirs from her relaxed slump against one of the log benches to give me her attention.

"Think you can bust out the s'mores stash?"

The look of outraged offense on her face would normally be hilarious --I mean, it is hilarious, just not as much-- but I'm not out to steal her snackies this time. An overly-exaggerated head tilt at the kid broadcasts what I'm after and that's enough to send my sister scrambling. That leaves me to poke a perfect bed of coals into shape.

"Okay!" my perky tone garners attention."Now comes the best part of a campfire! Roasting marshmallows!"

I did not at all expect the way Lily's face falls.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm not good at making them. The marshmallows always burn."

Okay, Alexandra, time to find out if you're good with kids after all. Gently tapping Lily's downcast chin, I smile warmly. "That's because it's a learned skill just like anything else, and just needs a little practice. Ah good, here's the goodies now."

Kara didn't skimp, which actually surprises me. She's brought out the whole 'No Touchie' box of treats and a handful of proper two-pronged skewers. She's also clinging to the damn box like a lifeline.

"Kara's happy to share," I subtly harass my sulking sister as she envisions her chocolate stash dwindling. 

"No she's not," Lily giggles and my laughter is loud. Watching Lena's consternated expression and Sam's literal facepalm over their sassy kid just makes it better.

"You're a kick, kid. Now come're and let's get you trained up on the art of marshmallow roasting."

With affectionately exasperated reassurances that her stash will be quickly topped up with a trip to Costco we need to do before the weather turns anyway, Kara pokes marshmallows onto the skewers and starts handing them to me. I didn't miss the way Sam perked up at the mention of s'mores and immediately hand off the first one, to her surprise. Lily gets the second one and I keep number three for training purposes.

"Okay, so here's how we do it."

There really is a trick to it and Lily listens attentively, her little face so serious it's adorable. Then we hold out our marshmallows to the coals to be browned. Unfortunately, small child enthusiasm has fluffy whiteness bursting into flames almost immediately. Oops, better spread those coals out a bit more.

"Oh no!" Lily cries in distress and I automatically react to calm her. A gentle grip on her arm pulls over the torch to be blown out.

"No problem! Me and Kara like 'em better a little more toasty. Strip it, sis!"

Pointing the skewer at Kara lets her pinch the crispy shell and peel it right off.

"Wow," Lily marvels and whether that's for the naked marshmallow or Kara's tossing the charred mess in her mouth is anyone's guess.

"There we go. Now we have an official practice marshmallow and you know that a little flame is no big."

To my shock, the burnt treat is a catalyst, Lily ducking under my arm to snuggle into my torso between my knees. It reminds me of the cats and I'm every bit as warmed by the trust. So with my arms wrapped around her, we can toast our treats together. The next flame up is mine, from a jostle from Sam's skewer, that drops her mallow right into the coals. Lily laughs as I juggle hot sugar into graham crackers and chocolate to eat too hot and too fast. 

"Mmmm, yum!"

Swapping Lily for her shrunken marshmallow lets her try out patiently browning the treat while it swells with the heat. Her excitement brings Ruby over to admire the work, the teen clearly at least somewhat familiar with this fireside tradition. Blistered and crispy skin splits to ooze gooey innards as the mallow is squashed between sweet crackers and squares of chocolate. Lily's face is pure bliss as she crunches it up. By the way her taller mother is murdering marshmallows, I might have to have more lessons, though she seems happy enough to gobble up the messes. God, she and Kara are cut from the same damn cloth apparently; immune to hot sugar and the chilly night and bottomless pits for food. Where is she putting it on that skinny, long-limbed frame?

Lena turns her nose up at Sam's char, but does accept a nice s'more from Ruby, delicately nibbling at it. They're so different, true opposites attract. My continued distraction torches yet another marshmallow and I'm pretty sure that stereo snicker of Lucy and Carol is aimed at me.

Sigh.

S'more number two is the signal for Lily's fading, her body growing heavy where she leans into me. That immediately gets her moms activated, Sam handing off her skewer to a startled Lena so that she can extricate herself from the blanket nest.

"Hey, baby, come here. You look tired," Sam coaxes and Lily grumbles in protest even as she shambles from my embrace to her mother's. Sam wraps her up in long arms and the child turns to a puddle all over her. I immediately miss the warmth. She's a neat kid. "Okay, as much as I hate to cut the party short, this one needs sleep."

Team New York goes into a modified version of a clearly familiar routine. Ruby leaps over to grab skewers and balances Lena as she climbs out of the blankets and shivers. Lily whines for her other mother, oozing into Lena, who carries her off after smiling at the rest of us. "Thank you, everyone, we had an excellent first day. Goodnight."

There's a smattering of the farewell returned as she vanishes up the short flight of steps that lead back to the clubhouse and their RV. Ruby finds a home for the skewers in Monica's hands before scampering off while Sam lingers for a moment to pile the blankets onto the bench. Oddly, she pauses, looking off in the direction where her family has gone before she speaks in a musing tone. 

"You know, I admit that when Lena and the kids wanted to do this, I was mostly humoring them," Sam says and turns a smile on me. "But now that I'm here, I'm really glad I came. Thank you, Alex."

I can't formulate words and the heat on my face has nothing to do with the dwindled fire.

"All of you, seriously, thank you. See you tomorrow."

I can tell my smile borders on idiotic and I force out something that might be some manner of 'you're welcome' as she follows her family's retreat. Which makes me realize I better escape myself or face the tractor-loads of teasing I'm doubtlessly in for. Grumbling my own goodnight, I escape at a fast walk, ignoring the ripple of amusement in my wake.

Feeling very much the gay disaster I've been reduced to, I flee to my little house and do the obvious thing. Call my oldest friend in the world to cry about it. 

"'Sup, Al?" Sara answers warmly after only a few rings. 

"Oh thank goddess you're basically married and boring now, so that I can catch you at home more often!"

"Gee thanks."

Her sarcastic amusement does nothing to detract from her affection and is an anchor to me, making my voice more vulnerable than I'd meant.

"Do you have a few minutes?"

"I always have time for you."

So I start to unload the day on her in a babbling rush, kicked off with, "so, the patron is early, right? I'm in my shop and have no damn clue, radio on, havin' a grand ol' time! So then, I look over to find possibly the most gorgeous woman I've ever laid eyes on, watching me dance like a complete fucking baboon!"

"I'll take it as proof that any and all self-consciousness has been burned out of you by the flaming torch of YouTube," Sara laughs uproariously.

"Ugh, right? Then, get this! My stupid ass just dances right over there like I'm Rico-fucking-Suave and get her to dance with me!"

"Who hoo! Get it, Danvers!"

"It sounds better than it was, asshole. But, yeah, somehow I managed past the overflow of the River of Gay Disaster, though I was terrified that I was gonna turn into a Goofy cartoon. 'Golly gee wiz, ma'am, yer awful purty. Hyuck!'

The cartoon voice sends Sara into gales of laughter once more and just getting some of the insane day worded out is helping. 

"At least Lucy didn't witness it," Sara manages to gasp and my face screws up comically.

"Bite your damn tongue, Lance." Then more of the story pours out of me, frantic to be released. "Then, then! She drags me off to meet her family, and before I can even get my brain rebooted, there's another hottie assaulting me and it was instant Blue Screen of Death! Thank everything holy for their cute kids that gave me something else to focus on."

"The power couple of your dreams, huh?"

"Shut up, you."

"Were they flirting with you? Man, I hope so, because this is great."

"Sara! They're married or at least might as well be! With kids!"

"So what? You've always wanted kids in a sort of ephemeral way."

"Oooo, big word," I snark sulkily and the silence on the other end is reminiscent of my mother's disapproval and ironically, more effective. "Fine, yes."

"At least your motives are better than some. Passing on your knowledge, putting more into the world than you take out. And, Alex, you've always had a lot of love to give." Sara's always been good at reading my moods, even over a wireless connection nearly three hundred miles apart. Then her tone goes teasing again. "Please tell me Brainy was filming! Pictures or it didn't happen!"

"Ugh, Sara," I mope petulantly, "the damn live camera was probably on and I'm quite sure Winn has everything squirreled away to blackmail me with. The dancing was bad enough!"

"Excellent! So what else? Give the boring married lady the goods, stud."

Somehow putting words to all of it makes it both better and worse. Sure, I get some perspective, but dear god some of it is painfully cringe worthy. It's been a hell of a day. 

"Uuuuugh," I grouse and slouch further into my little couch to glare at the wood stove.

"Come on, beach rat, it sounds like a pretty good day in the end. What's really bothering you?"

The words don't come at first, just aggravated noises that make BP look at me like I'm nuts. Finally I sit forward and cradle the phone in my worn hands, searching the dark face for an answer. Then I thumb the screen and activate the speaker.

"I dunno, but they… matter, if that makes any sense? Like, that huge donation saved our asses, and they show up with kids and they're nice as hell and freakin' hot and… I just dunno."

"Hey, chill. You're fine. Just be nice to the kids, have fun, and see if you can't throw a bridge across the River Gay Disaster, okay?"

Suddenly exhausted after the outpouring of my chaotic day, I press the phone to my forehead and fight down a little sniffle. "Okay. Love you, Sar."

"Love you too. Go sleep. Not-doctor's orders."

"'Kay. Night. Love to Aves too."

"I'll pass it on. Night."

I should shower, but fuck it. I need to change the sheets anyway. I'll get all that done tomorrow. Stripping wearily to the knee length briefs I habitually wear under the Carhartts, I collapse into bed and smile as my furry sidekicks curl up against hip and shoulder.

Despite the hardships, this is the life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> daskey i've got a small idea? if they have dinner and then light a bonfire. maybe there's some leftover wood lying around that's okay to burn. and alex sees lily and ruby are completely startled watching them throw stuff onto a fire and continuously building it. and they're a little bit startled by it? and really in awe. so she tells kara to go and get her marshmallows (kara's a little put out about being asked to share at first cause she thinks ALEX wants them but when alex raises her eyebrows at the kids kara's like 'ohhhh right!')  
> shatterpath Ruby has probably done this at school, but not Lily i bet!  
> daskey i think it'd be cute. to break the ice from day one. also i can't help but see lily burning a marshmallow and being all like "OH NO!!! :( :( :(" but alex is like "wait! we'll trade" and she gives lily her own and takes the burnt one, and alex is all like "i like em better a little more toasty" and while lily's happy that she didn't totally mess up, she quickly points her stick in kara's direction for her to eat it  
> shatterpath Kara will NEVER pass up on a marshmallow. i can do the Box Of Flannel right before that. a couple outdoor rugs and some ratty blankets for throwing over legs  
> daskey YES! bc they don't wanna get their expensive city clothes all smokey! (also... alex basically claiming them on day one... we SEE what you're doing alex)  
> shatterpath oh, the others don't even try. :D  
> daskey sam's going to find that sappy as heck. idk why but she's always one for the big high school cliches in my mind. but like, gifting flannel? that's a marriage proposal  
> shatterpath piiiles of it. and a some fleece, because that's a Seattle cliché. i like the stuff, it's just staticy as hell  
> daskey water resistant warm layers when you've got random drizzle and rain, and also a tiny canoe on a river? literally priceless. YEAH so light. it's amazing. i can't stand heavy layers cause our weather is like, notoriously chaotic  
> shatterpath Alex like 90% lives in second hand clothes now, since she had to replace most of her wardrobe, and as she tells Lena, 'there's no guilt in destroying it with farm life.'  
> daskey lena's probably internally wishing she could bring her shopping  
> shatterpath oh hell YES she is. Wants to get her hands on that bod in more than one way!   
> daskey agsdhkfjgh. okay but i'm still not over the mental image of alex teaching the kids the proper way to roast marshmallows and lena and sam like realizing that they might just like this wild trip here.


	20. Animal Therapy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So, I've had pretty severe writer's block lately, but finally found some mental keys to polish off this chapter that has been sitting around 95% done for… a while. I also have 21 good to go, and have only just started 22. Send good thoughts to the muses to get fired up about this project again!

\----  
**Lena's POV**

"So, how did you like your first day?"

Sam's chuckle is as much feel as sound beneath my ear as she says with exaggerated exasperation, "fine, it was great. You were right. Happy now?"

"Much," is my smug reply as I give a happy little wiggle to settle more heavily into her warmth and wallow in the stroking over my head and back. Sam might be high-metabolism lanky to the point of being skinny, but she burns like an open fireplace, I swear. While it can be suffocating in hot weather, it's welcome right now.

As though a lullaby to lull us to sleep, the rain begins again, pattering against the fiberglass skin of the RV. Regardless of the early hour, it's clear that neither of us is long for the waking world, darkness closing in to rest bodies and minds.

I have a drowsy memory of stumbling into the narrow doorway on my way to the toilet in the middle of the night, unfamiliar with my surroundings. Ruby woke with a snort, mumbling at me in what I think was a question if I was okay. A stroke to her head and a word or two of what I think was reassurance and her breath evened out, letting me finish my business. Barely awake, I still noted that the rain had increased to a dull din that had me huddling against Sam's back, hoping the noise wouldn't keep me awake.

Luckily, there is sun peeking through the edges of the window shades when next I'm aware of myself.

I'm body sore and muzzy in the manner of too much sleep, aching for food, caffeine and another trip to the toilet, not necessarily in that order. At least the bed isn't awful, but it's not great either. At least Team Lanvers happily provided us with queen-sized bedding that smells nicely of lavender. In the night I have wrapped myself tight to Sam's back for the radiant heater of her. The RV seems to be reasonably well insulated, but there's an awareness of the cold beyond the thin walls that I'm not used to. It's quiet though, so the rain stopped at some point in the night, that's nice.

"You've been restless."

Not expecting a very relaxed Sam to be awake, I half startle before protesting when she squirms in my hold.

"No. Don't wanna move."

"Are you turning down a cuddle? Who are you?"

The tease makes me grumble sleepily, but at least now I can commandeer her torso, latching on like a python to snuggle into her boobs.

"You were having a good dream, snuggles. I know those little noises. Did the farm live up to your expectations?" Even though I know it's coming, I still feel a little embarrassed as Sam's teasing goes wicked. "Or is it just Farmer Hotness?"

Oh, she is not getting in all the teasing here! Jabbing tickling fingers into those easily accessed ribs earns me a completely undignified noise. "Sassy brat, you are just as charmed and you know it!"

Squirming and giggling, Sam tosses her phone onto the little shelf built into the cabinet beside the bed and grabs me half in restraint and half in hug. Willing to play, I squirm and make giggly protesting noises. If my little squeal as Sam rolls us doesn't wake the girls, I'll be shocked.

"If you are implying that Alex and her bold, shy eyes and She-Hulk build is catnip, well, I suppose."

While I'm normally not a fan of morning kisses before I can at least hit the mouthwash, something in the press of Sam's body, the taste and feel of her mouth, has me tense in the sexiest way. Grin sly, Sam props herself up on her elbows and I relish the stroke of her warm fingertips on my face, so gentle and loving.

"I admit that the fantasies have taken on a new life. Even the crunchy hay was starting to look appealing."

We giggle naughtily together.

"But have no fear, babe, she's got the hook in her mouth already. All we have to do is reel her in carefully."

Before I can comment, the RV shudders on its support feet and I know the girls are awake. Groaning, I roll onto my back and call out. "Kids! You can come in!"

As though she'd been waiting impatiently for the summons, Lily bursts in to dive at the bed.

"It's so quiet here! Even school isn't this quiet. But the animals are waking up, hear them?"

It's hard not to hear them, a rising chorus of hunger I bet has our hosts getting ready for their day.

"Any sign of people being awake yet?"

"Nope. But it's kinda early. Ruby was telling me about time zones, so it's earlier for them than us!"

In the doorway, Ruby leans against the frame and there's a familiar fondness at the edges of her neutral expression. This seems like a good place for a compliment. "Well your sister is right. How about we get ready and go see about getting into the clubhouse."

That gets us moving, dressing warmly in preparation to whatever awaits us outdoors. With the shades drawn against the night, I was not prepared for the darkness of the early morning. With the girls paused on the steps and Sam a roadblock on the ground, I'm clearly not the only one feeling the press of the so very black night and the memory of Alex warning us against the local fauna.

When Ruby abruptly makes an animalistic snort, we all jump in fear. I don't even chide Lily for hauling off and slap-punching her in the arm for that stunt. Still, it gets us moving, reassured by the few lights left on around the village. There's even a convenient flood lamp shining dimly on the short flight of stairs leading up to the clubhouse, which is thankfully unlocked. There are little LED lights that keep the dim space from being terrifying and lead my hand to a switch that floods the space with brightness.

Sam leads the way, which doesn't shock me as I've been listening to her stomach grumble since before she was awake. The great room feels as empty as it is, the long night giving the space just an edge of chill. For a moment, Sam looks indecisive before her expression squares up.

"Well, they did say to make ourselves at home."

Both Ariases are in go mode now, searching through cupboards and the big refrigerator. Full of mischief, Ruby comes up from the fridge balancing one of the huge ostrich eggs in one hand. "Bet you could make a big pancake with this!"

"Oh! Lemme see!"

There's no denying Lily's delighted demand and Ruby grabs a dishtowel as padding for the egg. Frankly, I'm as curious as my daughter, both of us touching the frigid surface, bumpy and smooth as rustic, glazed porcelain.

Luckily for our stomachs, Ruby finds plain chicken eggs and a carton of buttermilk that has Sam delighted with the treat. Nia is clearly an organized and intuitive cook because there are pancakes hissing to life in a pan inside ten minutes. Ruby swaps out the giant egg for plates and soon we are digging into the miracle that is Sam's pancakes. The woman has a gift.

There is a click from a large coffeemaker near the sink that has not one, but two stainless steel carafes in it. With a burble and a trickle, the scent of coffee fills the room.

"Bet we'll have company in short order," Sam chuckles as she wipes out the last of her batch of pancakes. 

Lucy's first, looking adorably startled and confused through her barely-awake haze. For a moment she puzzles at us before making some sort of animalish noise and heading for the coffee. It's a signal for the arrival of everyone else in short order. Monica approaches first, clearly interested in what we've been eating, Kara hot on her heels. 

"Oh, those smell so good…" the tweeny marvels and Kara looks like she's ready to drool. Sam's voice is wry, but gentle.

"I could make some more for everybody."

"Really? Cool!"

That brings over Carol to place a hand on daughter and cousin both. "Could it wait for an hour or so? Gotta tend the beasties."

"Of course. The batter gets better with a little aging."

"Excellent. You kids want to help us out? We have our morning Dawn Discussion, then we'll head out."

"Dawn Discussion?" Lily questions and Carol chuckles warmly. Even as she opens her mouth to answer, the raunchy banter I've been expecting since we arrived has at last started.

"Dawn Disaster is more like it!" Lucy crows as she throws a leg over a chair and sits down with a thud that belies her small size. Alex's dry sarcasm is a thing of beauty.

"yes, thank you, Lucifer."

"The Double D!"

If looks could kill, Lucy would be on fire, and flashes her teeth in a feline grin. "What? Look, Danvers, just because you have a filthy mind."

"Oh, look who's talking!"

"Down girls," Carol laughingly warns and the banter subsides. Turning her attention back to Lily, she finishes what she was going to say. "Over our very busy summer, we realized that we really needed a morning meeting to keep everybody informed--"

"And make sure we don't forget shi… stuff," Lucy chimes in as the gang clusters to the table with carafes and mugs and milk.

I've sat in on a lot of business meetings from life in boarding school to Luthor dynamics to life at the club. This is absolutely no different, save the dress code, or lack thereof. Lucy has a laptop and Alex a battered spiral notebook. For a few minutes they swap information about their day to day lives here. It's both fascinating and boring. So, typical meeting.

Alex says something that gets a collective groan from the locals and refocuses my attention. 

"No more putting it off! The rain has stopped for now and we need to get the new plastic on the hoop coop." Alex is demanding, but not overbearing and she gives her family a 'really?' look as they groan again. Exasperated, she turns her attention to us to explain. "We have new thermal greenhouse plastic for the north side of the coop where we had plants. The chickens get that for winter. We'll save the south side as backup, though I still have doubts it's going to survive another snow season."

"We're hoping it will," Kara chimes in distractedly, still clearly in the process of waking up. "We'll need it for starting seedlings, but the other two are pretty well trashed and the poles can just be taken down."

Clearly ignoring the side explanations, Lucy forges ahead, her tone showing her lawyer past. "Carol, can you call our Cali supplier about the ostrich feed? We'll need the chick starter for sure, and I suppose we better get in what we can for the adults and adults-to-be."

"Didn't we need chick starter for the little dinosaurs too?"

Alex jumps back in with, "yeah. I need to get our guests into Salem for clothes anyway, so if they can fill an order, I can pick it up."

"Done!"

"The rest of us are on winter housing duty. Just a little more buttoning up and we can get bedding down."

The meeting is on in earnest now, Brainy adding in, "We are short on wood shavings for that task."

"No problem. Thanks to our lovely patrons," Lucy raises her mug at me with a grin, "we have enough straw to finish the job. I'll get the hay fork on the Kubota and bring over one of the rolls. Then we can get hay on top of that to give them something to eat and play in. Gonna be a boring winter for them."

"Oh, hey, I forgot to ask yesterday. What is your stance on the cameras?" Alex abruptly asks and every eye at the table is suddenly on me. Completely taken off guard, I automatically look to Sam, who looks every bit as nonplussed. She finds her voice first.

"You know, we honestly hadn't thought about that."

"No, we haven't. But we don't want to hold back your filming either. It should be alright, I suppose. What about you girls?"

It startles both daughters to suddenly be included, Ruby shrugging and Lily plucking at her lower lip for a moment. "It could be fun, I guess. Can we show our friends at school?"

Leave it to my wild child to find the positive! "Darling, I think your friends at school would have fun watching these videos later with you."

"Cool! Could we get chicken eggs?"

"Absolutely!" Alex agrees cheerfully. "You guys want to come along for feed duty? I could hitch the wagon to the tractor and give you a ride."

That's signal enough for everyone to break to various tasks, Sam sending myself and the girls off with a kiss and a grin. The grey dawn is waking around us, damp and cool. Really, I'm not dressed to be out in this. Talking quietly between themselves, the Danvers sisters move like they share a mind, muscling a large wagon from the barn. The thing is nearly the size of a compact car with a slat-rail fence around three sides. While Kara hooks it to the awaiting green tractor, the girls follow Alex back in. She's nattering on about different feeds, scoops of grain mixes getting tossed into marked pails along with scoops of powder in some and green pellets in others. The whole time, she's tracking her work on a clipboard.

"This smells yummy," Lily says with her head stuck into the top of a metal trashcan. There are a bunch of them standing around, full of animal feed.

"That's because that is oats and molasses," Alex supplies with a smile as she slaps lids onto the cluster of buckets. "You could toss boiling water over a scoop of that and eat it yourself!"

I don't even know where Alex found the two small pails she hands Lily, but my little is puffed up that she gets to help. Ruby grabs another and shakes it as instructed, and Alex holds yet another out at me. 

That smile could get me to do just about anything.

So I find myself in the misty dawn, my ass parked on a plastic bucket of livestock food, clinging to the raw wooden rail next to me as we bounce along behind the small tractor. The feeding is a little alarming only in that the animals are so eager. Alex dumps a portion into a plastic trough for the big donkeys and shoos the alpaca out of the small, covered enclosure to cluster around another feeder, this one much larger. Then more grain is poured into a low feeder for the sheep and mini-donkeys to shoulder their way in for a spot at the table. Lily's small buckets are dumped into yet another trough so that the big white dogs can crunch up the kibble noisily.

"We'll come back in a few minutes and let the big guys out. That way the shrimps and woolies get a fair share. They're getting way more food right now to fatten up a bit and grow more hair for winter."

The trip out on the pastures has been nice, though I could do without the… smells. The worst one of which grows stronger as we approach a wall of wood and cattle panels.

The deep grunting and snorting from within gives away what lies behind that barrier. From my vantage point on the trailer, I can see down into the muddy crater occupied by two enormous swine.

"It stinks," Lily complains bluntly and even as I wince a bit at her manners, she's not wrong. Alex grimaces herself, hoisting yet another bucket to dump it, getting as much splattered across the pig's huge heads and ears than gets in the trough. 

"Yeah, I'm not happy with the condition of their pen, but the bigger they get, the more terrifying they are. Thankfully, it's less than a week before we have an appointment with the butcher."

That's an unexpected bombshell, but Alex doesn't notice as she continues to ramble as she checks a blue plastic barrel with weird-looking spigots on it at head height to the pigs.

"The pushy jerks broke the pig-mobile we built to move them in and we haven't been able to come up with a good alternate. I still have no idea how we're going to get them into the stock trailer…"

We must all look a little stunned and upset because Alex pauses, and doesn't quite sigh, but it's close.

"It was hard for me at first too, to accept that we're raising these guys and a bunch of the chickens, for food. But they have a pretty nice life here with fresh air and good food and low stress. Yes, the pigpen is a mess, but we've learned a lot from these two on how to do better in the future."

She must realize that there's not much more she can say on the subject, and even as we city girls are disturbed by the reality of living animals that will soon be food, isn't that the truth of it?

Seeing something in my expression, Alex nods and her voice is businesslike as she finishes her thought. "Anyway, if there's two unbreakable rules here, it's respect one another's personal space, and steer clear of the pigs."

We hang back at the trailer while Alex walks over a bucket to dump it over the side of another pen, the noises within much higher pitched. When she returns, I note that her cheerful expression is a bit strained.

"I spaced out on it yesterday, but do you girls think you can help me with something? See, the new kittens need to interact with people so they don't go wild and they got skipped over yesterday and they grow so fast that we really can't do that. Just be gentle and let them come to you. There's toys and treats and stuff in the cage."

After a quiet aside with Kara, Alex climbs back into the wagon and we're off again, back towards the geometric shapes of the village and barns, veering off to the white tunnels of the hoop houses. Jumping down, Alex shoos me off my seat and grabs it. "I'm going to see if I can get the ladies squished into the coop so that we can get the plastic done after breakfast. Hang tight for a minute."

After a racket of squawking and clucking and some cussing from a clearly exasperated Alex, she appears at the far end of the long tunnel of plastic.

"Bring your pails, Lily! We've got eggs!"

Feet from the door, the smell strengthens and I pause. Smirking, Ruby follows Lily into the mess of disheveled straw, hay and wood shavings with clusters of food/water stations and nest boxes like islands. A few chickens still wander about, watching us alertly.

"The white eggs are pretty easy, but we have some brown layers and even green!"

Lily's eyes round in amazement at Alex's statement. "Really? I didn't know there were green chicken eggs."

"There are, and they're gorgeous. If you check in all the corners and cracks and along the walls, there's usually some strays, but keep those separate, okay?"

"Why?"

"Because they might have been there for awhile and they go to the pigs. All the old eggs do. There's almost always more than we'll eat, but winter is coming and there will be a lot less, so we keep more hens than we need."

So my kids set about in their impromptu easter egg hunt while Alex putters about the nest boxes and feeding stations. There's an easy grace to her, in the way she moves and holds herself. Before I really think about it, I walk over and speak quietly. "You really love this, don't you?"

Oh, that smile! What a delightful weapon it is, hitting me in brain and knees and the soft places between.

"I really do. Sorry about the stink. After doing this for months now, and working in an ER for years before this, I don't even notice rank anymore."

"Do you miss it?"

Before I fret over being pushy, Alex shrugs. "Surprisingly little, to be honest. Though this winter I'm going to look into maybe setting up a small clinic just for locals. Or something house to house, y'know? We'll see. Shame to let the skills get rusty."

"I--"

Before I can add anything, Lily is squealing with delight that she's found a green egg. It takes a bit of gentle persuasion to get her to give up the four eggs she found scattered, but the bounty in the nest boxes proves an excellent distraction. I admire her bucket of them, ignoring the shudder up my spine at the feathers and speckles of… things stuck to a few of them.

"Don't worry, Miss Lena, they get a little scrub before they get eaten. Promise."

The playful tone sounds almost… flirtatious.

\----  
**Sam's POV**

Nia was sweetly persistent that I couldn't help with the cleanup from breakfast. Brainy and Lucy had crowded me out and now I'm feeling at a complete loss. My family and Alex had been absent from the meal, the latter swung through to collect a plate and vanish again. My guess is that they're in the barn, but I find myself sitting on one of the wooden lounge chairs near Kara's tiny house.

The quiet still grates on my nerves, so used to the overstimulation of city life. But here it's soft sounds, the trees sighing in the breeze, a passing car, one of the big livestock dogs barking off in the distance, Lily's piercing laugh muffled in the barn. I must zone out because the strangely quiet thump of heavy boots on the deck rouses me with a start.

"You seem a little jumpy there, Sam," Alex says very seriously, but there's a hint of mischief to her. "Do you need some help relaxing? As a very serious medical professional, I subscribe," that grin is pure shenanigans as she reaches into her coat and I brace myself. "Kitten therapy."

Dangling from her cupped hand is a sleepy bit of fluff who blinks and meows.

"You don't strike me as the formal sort, but I thought you might make an exception for a friend of mine."

The kitten is a tuxedo with the cutest white mustache and toes. 

"I know you're not allergic, because I asked, so put your hands out."

I have no idea what part of my brain makes me obey, but a moment later, there is a warm little kitten in my hands.

"We've been calling him Mustache as a filler name."

"Of course you are," I tease and lower the kitten to stand on my chest. With my hands cupped around his ribs, he can't go anywhere, but looks sleepy enough to not even try.

"Lily has exercised them well and he's probably more interested in sleep than escape."

I'm more delighted with the furball than I thought I'd be. 

It doesn't take much more than a coaxing ask for Alex to get me to my feet to return my new pal to his family. Even the short walk across the street to the barn is too much for little Mustache, who goes limp in the cradle of my hands. 

"Aww, you like him," Alex teases and I give her a wry look.

"It's a mammal thing."

She has a great laugh, warm and open. I recognize the oversized stall completely enclosed in wood and the wire screen hardware cloth, my daughter's voices coming from within. Alex gestures me through the screen door, but remains outside. When she asks Ruby if she'd like to help with something, she leaves her spot near where Lena has taken advantage of some hay bales and piles of blankets for a little nap. I sit near my Luthors and gently tuck Mustache into the cuddle puddle with his siblings.

"Just four of them, huh?" I ask Lily, who pets the sleeping kittens with clear fascination.

"Yeah. Aren't they neat? There are some kitties at school, but not little ones like this. Alex said they were only six weeks old just yesterday. The mama won't come out, but I've seen her peek a couple times and she's very pretty. She's gray like Foggy and has orange eyes."

She hums to herself while petting the furry piles of young cats and it makes me smile. She's such a great kid.

"They have silly names."

That makes me chuckle as I join her in sprawling out in the surprisingly comfortable straw. "They do. What would you name them?"

Clearly, Lily hasn't thought of that and she hems and haws until I bail her out.

"Well, there's lots of famous cats that can inspire us. Like Garfield or Tom or Figaro."

And though he knows we're talking about him, the little tuxedo stirs and yawns, bringing his head up so that I can rub a fingertip over his skull. The tune comes to me unexpectedly and I see a small smile tip Lena's mouth where she remains snuggled into her straw and blanket nest. I'm not a great singer, but I can passably carry a tune, unlike Lena.

"I'm Abraham De Lacy, Giuseppe Casey, Thomas O'Malley, O'Malley the alley cat," I croon the old Disney tune from the Aristocats and Lily gasps.

"Mommy! He can't be O'Malley! He's not _orange_!"

There's no missing Lena fighting down the urge to laugh and her eyes open just a bit. I leave her to watch quietly, cracking up over Lily's childish disgust. 

"Well Mustache is a silly name and Alex told me that I could change it," I tell Lily in a haughty tone and she makes a face.

"Why do you get to name him?"

"Because he likes me best."

That seems to be the keyword for Mustache to stretch with a huge yawn and attack his beige brother, Himmy. Typical of young creatures of all statures, my little tuxedo buddy has a very short attention span and races off while his brother does his best to finish waking up. He's marked like a fluffy Siamese, only in brown over his nose, ears, toes and tail. Little Marshmallow is the same way, only she is brushed with white on legs and face, which makes her a little funny looking in a cute way.

"What about Mousetache?" 

It takes real effort not to laugh at Lily's suggestion and I can hear the warble of repressed amusement in my voice. "Well, it's a bit of a mouthful and shortening it down to Mousey doesn't really suit him. He needs a dramatic name," I think for a moment before getting excited, "like Zorro!"

In true swashbuckling fashion, Mustache rockets out of the hay cave to race up my back and launch himself off my head. It happens so fast I can't even react, just watch him fall into the chasm between me and Lily, nearly bouncing off her surprised face. Well, if the litter was slow in waking, they're up now! Like excited quarks, they are off. 

"Monsieur Mittens," Lily tosses out with a passable, if cheesy, French accent. "Because of his little white paws."

"What, no ridiculous royal name like Prince Hairy? Since you know, he's hairy."

Lily has gotten far too good at her sister's art of the silent sass. After a moment, she speaks up, her voice carefully normal. "He could be Alfred, since there's already a Batman."

"Oh, that's a good one!"

Suddenly Ruby's voice is on the other side of the low wall and wire hardware cloth, teasing, "that's better than the cliché 'Jeeves'."

"That's it!" I exclaim joyfully and catch the excited feline molecule to pin him gently to the straw and play 'murderous predator' with him. "Prince Hairy Alfred Jeeves of the Adorable Mustache."

Lily's giggle joins her mother's as Lena stiffly sits up from her improvised mattress. Lily launches herself at her for a hug and I smile sappily.

"I was locked in here with these vicious brutes by Doctor Alex for inpatient kitten therapy."

Lena's guffaw is rough with sleep and her smile slow. "Kitten therapy."

"Shall I release you from your squalid prison, Mom?" The sarcasm is gentle from Ruby and I paste on a mockingly horrified expression.

"And release these monsters into the world? Never!"

"You guys are a riot," Alex's voice reaches our ears a moment before she appears next to Ruby. "Enjoying your incarceration?"

"I was framed, I tell ya!" I cry out with mock anger, shaking my fist. Which is invitation enough for the young prince to pounce.

After a few more minutes of hyperactive kitten shenanigans, there is some sort of signal outside of our human perceptions that sends the quartet back into their hay cave where their shy mother is holed up.

"Okay, that's our signal to leave," Alex announces to sounds of protest from all of us. "Oh, there will be plenty of opportunity to play with them, no fear. We just have to give them space to chill too. Particularly their mom. I have the boards out and cleaned up a bit if you'd like to see them."

That gets us moving! I like the barn. It's weathered without seeming as though its ready to collapse on us, and been cleaned up fairly well. Most of the stalls are crowded with supplies, but there seems to be some manner of organization to them. Even the smells are low, the alpaca and their guardian llama having been moved to the larger barn next door.

"When we're in town tomorrow, we'll have to pick up some safety gear for you guys. Though, if we hit the others up for some of their gear, we might have you covered."

Even as I worry a bit over what Alex could possibly mean by safety gear, we all get a good look at the wood. There are four planks both on the table and resting on some sawhorses nearby, cleaned of dirt, sawdust and much of the stringy bark. One of them has even been roughly sanded, if that orbital sander resting on it is any indication. The whole place reeks of cedar, a bit overwhelmingly so. 

"Wow," Lena says reverently and runs her hand over one of the big planks. "It's so beautiful."

Honestly, the damn thing is big enough for a regular table. How big is Alex thinking of going anyway?

"I'd like to sit fifteen if it can be managed, though two pieces would be more manageable. Shame though, because one big sea of wood would have been gorgeous."

Oops. Apparently that hadn't been an inside thought then.

So we're given earplugs, disposable dust masks and various sanding tools and put to work. Poor Lily looks ridiculous in her oversized plastic earmuffs and safety glasses, still dressed in Lucy's old flannel shirt. Alex stays with her, the two of them delicately playing sandpaper over the live edges of the wood to smooth it while the rest of us use power tools. When we get tired and bored, Alex gets a consensus of how the boards should fit together to be the most pretty. Then she brings out a circular saw and slices off part of each of them and we shove them together in order.

"It's going to be a gorgeous table," I say and Ruby chuckles.

"And it will easily sit fifteen!"

As the girls have gotten bored, Alex comes up with the idea of creating a tree swing with the off-cuts. So one piece is quickly trimmed down and four holes drilled in it before we range through the supplies looking for rope. After Alex shrieks like the girliest girl over a spider, blushing fiercely, a coil of rope is found and we're trooping out into the gloomy day.

"I'm not complaining about the show," I murmur into Lena's hair as I hug her in watching. Having found a jutting branch some twenty feet up, Alex was focused on throwing a wad of rope over it while the girls cheer her on. The second length goes up easier and Alex kneels in the wet grass with Lily close so that she can put the seat at a comfy height. Then a lot of sloppy knots and there is a proper rustic tree swing ready for playing with. Right on cue a heavy truck sounds close by and Alex excuses herself to race off.

"They're so busy," Lily says where she sways lazily on the new swing. "And it's not even lunchtime yet."

The noises from the road quickly draw us over to watch the show, which is a good-sized delivery truck stacked with empty pallets. Brainy hovers over his cameras while Alex looks over a clipboard and Kara and Lucy tote out two metal beams nearly as long as Lucy herself. They slot and screw them down to the lip of the tractor's front scoop while Alex finishes the clipboard with a signature and helps the driver take off the straps from the stacks. With a roar, the tractor comes to life under Lucy's deft hand and Kara's careful directions, the new prongs acting as a forklift to pull the stacks down and set them on the road. They remove about half of the load, Lucy heading straight for the low barn with the last load.

"Why all the pallets?" Ruby calls out and the sisters Danvers smile matching smiles. For all that they look nothing alike, mannerisms and expressions prove them family.

"For firewood!" Alex calls out as she effortlessly lifts a wooden pallet to smack it down atop another pile, the sisters stacking the pallets like shuffled cards. It's as impressive a show as expected. 

Ruby hasn't finished with questions yet. "How much firewood do you guys have?"

"Not enough by far. But there's a truck coming that will solve that!"

I can only nod to Lena's soft, "how much firewood are they expecting to need that many pallets?"

Nia appears then, calling out merrily, "so is this a bad time for lunch?"

"It's never a bad time for lunch, little sister two!"

We all linger for a few more minutes for Lucy to shuttle the other stacks away from the weather, which has started to get drizzly and gloomy again. Then it's a mass migration off to the clubhouse for the next culinary adventure.

We're getting spoiled.

Himmie, Foggy, Mustache and Marshmallow; six weeks old and ADORABLE.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this chapter was going to be called Kitten Therapy (and yes, most of this whole thing WAS based around Sam and Mustache, thank you) but I realized that there is actually a lot of animal interaction here from the egg to the pigs to the kittens to the hens to Alex squealing over the spider. So, there we go. :D
> 
> daskey: BREAKFAST BRIEFING! the dawn discussion!  
> shatterpath: Dawn Discussion! I love it. "Dawn Disaster is more like it!" yes, thank you, Lucy  
> daskey: the double d  
> shatterpath: BAHAHAAHHAAHAH! Lucy so would too  
> "Look, Danvers, just because YOU have a filthy mind!"  
> "Oh, look who's talking!"


	21. Make Yourself a Part of Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it isn't obvious already, the more I write this Lena/Sam, the more I love them!
> 
> Oh, and cheeky Lena is a DELIGHT!

\----  
**Alex's POV**

Lunch is a sloppy mess of chicken and veg leftovers to spoon over a scoops of a baked bread stuffing that Nia has worked apple chunks into. Somehow, impossibly, it not only works, but makes a sweet, savory, sage-heavy delicious mess. Kara has none-too-discretely scooted close to Lena and they're whispering and giggling over a notepad as though they've known one another forever. It's cute.

So as lunch starts to wrap up, I have to tease them. 

"I can hear you two already getting into your bird-brained gig again." My amusement that Lena looks as sheepish as Kara is real. "Tell you what. You finish that up and get a shopping list finalized. And Kara, when you finish that, can you hit the others up for their lists? It's going to be a long day away from the farm tomorrow and I'd like to maximize our time."

"Sure thing!"

"Great I'll be out at the hoop houses with…" I pause when I notice the girls are asking Sam if they can go hang out with Monica at her cabin for awhile. Sam is happy to send them off with a smile. "Okay, I guess it's just me and Sam then?"

"Sure," Sam agrees cheerfully and I can't quite figure out what Lena's smile means. It looks like carnal interest, possibly even echoed in Sam, but they're clearly so into each other. So, yeah. I'm a little confused. I'm mean, sure, Lena was a constant stream of sassy flirtation in the video comments, but so are a lot of people! I've never taken any of it seriously.

Now my brain has wandered off again and I've lingered here like an idiot long enough to amuse them. Sigh.

"You sure you're up for shoveling out five months worth of chicken litter?"

Sam just grins like a wolf.

"If I can scrub a New York toilet, I can manage chicken shit."

Lena's laugh sends us on our way.

Rather than deal with gates, I just strike out alongside the road and call a greeting to the curious ostriches where they pace us. The trio of hens has settled down without the big male and are almost personable. As we get closer to our destination, Sam admires, "oh! You guys got the plastic on. It looks good."

"It does, right? The only problem is that it shows how ratty the others are!"

Both tractors are still out at the quartet of hoop houses as we'd used them to help pull the new plastic over the hoops earlier today.

"I'll get another sheet of plastic ordered," I say conversationally to my companion. "For the south side of the coop. That way the chickens will have a whole lot of space to roam around in. And you and the fam can see how it's done."

"Or jump in?"

I like Sam, she seems very easygoing and up for about anything.

"Exactly! In the meantime, here comes the rain, but we have an enormous umbrella waiting for us."

Under the new plastic it is dry and growing noisy with the patter of rain. Nia is already there, tossing bit and pieces left over from our greenhouse efforts into the bucket of the Deere. "Lucy went to get another straw bale and will be back."

They've already dragged in the food/water/shelter infrastructure for the clucky inhabitants, so only two major jobs are left for this project. I get Sam into the discarded dust mask and goggles Kara had been wearing earlier, strap on my own, and we get to work. 

The giant round bales I had only barely seen in a few quaint photos are indeed huge. And dangerously heavy. The machines that compact the long hay or straw strands into wheels like a roll of tape pack them tight and pulling them apart is a challenge. We got one half unrolled earlier, and with much laughter, me, Nia and Sam manage to turn the thing around and shove it back down the way it came to unspool the straw.

Lucy returns with the Kubota and another bale impaled on the vicious tines of the hay spear, sets it down and uses the machine to shove the thing over with a dull thud. It takes a few straps and some rope to get the bale turned and the outside layer picked open so it can be laboriously rolled by all four of us. Then it's catching our breath before raking out what feels like acres of straw.

Impressively, Sam lasts for nearly the whole project, but she'll be feeling it tomorrow. It's hilarious to watch her collapse to sprawl out in the fresh straw and just lie there. While Lucy drives off to get some of the pile of clean hay salvaged from the picky camelids, I poke Sam in the foot.

"You gonna live, tough guy?"

"Fuck you, Danvers," she says mildly and I chuckle. "You people are nuts, you know that, right?"

"A little, yeah. But you have to admit you've never had eggs so tasty."

"Fiiiiiiiine."

We hang out in a surprisingly easy quiet. After feeling like such a disaster yesterday, the peace is welcome.

The hay is simply dumped in a big heap, and I wave Sam away from reaching for her rake. "Naw, you're good. Half the fun for the little dinosaurs is scratching the pile down looking for nibblies."

"Oh, Okay. Can't say I'm sorry we're done then."

"You are welcome to merely supervise the final step."

"What's left?"

"We have to keep them in and the worst of the cold out."

The tractor reappears then, with the sidewall dangling from the raised bucket, Nia steadying the thing. At fifteen feet wide and nearly as tall, the plastic and wood is a giant kite with a set of double doors in the middle of it. A few screws and a couple trips up a ladder and the wall is back in place, buttoning the new coop up.

There's been a clip-mount and camera set up on the innermost wall for all of our labors, but Brainy shows up to get more dramatic footage of the finale. So I ham it up. Swanning over to the door leading to the central coop, I throw up my hands dramatically and supervillain-cackle, "release the cluckens!"

Throwing open the door doesn't exactly flood the place with evil chickens, but they do start straggling in.

"Come my evil minions, foul deeds await!"

"Fowl. That's cute," Sam deadpans and Nia snickers.

"Oh, I see how it is," I mock rage and don't fight the smile, pointing melodramatically at the new girl. "You have visited my evil lair to mock!"

Sam just smirks and looks sarcastically contrite. "Oh dear, you've figured out my evil counter-strategy."

I don't hesitate to join in on Nia's laughter and Sam looks pleased with herself.

It's still raining out, actually even harder than we started, so I shoo at Sam. "You go take a nice, long, hot bath. You're going to be sore as hell later. The rest of you, let's get the other hoops stripped while we can."

While Sam hobbles off into the rain, the rest of us get back to work. As happens far too often in this new life, a seemingly simple task complicates fast, or at least takes far longer than anticipated. This time it's the tattered plastic that is our complication. It's huge and unwieldy and heavy, but mostly it's just trying to deal with it in the now-steady rain. We debate on dropping the task, but we're soaked anyway, and the stuff blowing around could be dangerous. So we pull it down, slice it into manageable pieces, stack it under the tractor bucket to keep it still and bundle it when it gets to the point of being difficult to deal with.

"We'll lay it out in the low barn later to dry and see what's salvageable," I say as we loop some wire around the third bundle. "It feels wrong to throw away so much plastic and--"

Movement and the sound of an engine big enough to be heard over the rain pauses my rambling. 

"Because of course the damn firewood is going to show up in the pouring rain."

Sure enough, there's a truck pulling down the main lane towards the village. And it's no small truck either, but a full-sized semi and trailer. Whoo boy… maybe I really did order too much…

"We'll finish up," Lucy interrupts my thoughts. "And I'll bring over the first stack of pallets."

Nodding, I trot out to the road to meet the delivery. After a quick consult with the driver, he's backing up to swing the trailer down the split in the road that wraps around the back of Marty's six acres. While he gets himself turned around, I zip a message off to the group chat for all hands on deck. I don't know how much wood is in that trailer, but I have a feeling it's going to be a lot. Unfortunately, the rig is too big to send over to the low barn, so the load is going to have to be dumped on the road. 

Another thing we've had to get good at is compromise and problem-solving on the fly!

Like a flock of birds in Carhartt plumage, we gather at the road to watch the semi back up to near the barn and the driver hops out to fiddle at the rear doors.

It's a lot of wood. I mean a lot of wood. The damn thing is nearly full, split wodd slithering out to pile at the back of the trailer from the force of gravity.

"Did you overdo it?" Kara asks tentatively as the driver presses buttons on a controller and the whole damn load starts to move on some sort of hidden conveyor. Brainy and Kara, camera in tow, immediately go to bother the guy while I stand back with Nia, Carol and Maria to watch the slow avalanche of split logs. When the pile can't pile anymore, the driver pulls the truck up, trailing a valley of firewood and piling another mountain and then another. Soon, the forty-ish foot trailer has deposited a mountain range of wood on our gravel and I'm signing for it. Brainy shoots a bit of the conveyor belt that is the floor of the trailer while the driver kicks a few stuck logs out and closes up his rig.

"There's hardwood mixed in here," Lucy bellows over the noise of the departing semi. "Keep an eye out on it and stack it separately. If it doesn't have bark like an evergreen, assume it's part of the hardwood pile."

"Good lord, what did this cost?" Lena asks as we prepare for our task with gloves and losing some layers beneath the near-waterproof Carhartt. Lucy's nonchalant answer makes the visiting beauty blink.

"About two grand with delivery. We were planning on living off the logs we dropped over the summer that have been stashed in the warehouses out back. Just use them however dry they were. But why not take advantage of your nice donation and get good, dry stuff? We scrounged up enough during the summer to get in five cords, but it's not nearly enough and relying on what we cut that might not burn for shit was making me a nervous damn wreck. And it's all douglas fir, which is decently good stuff, but the harder stuff burns slower and makes better coals. We survived just fine on doug fir last winter, but we've expanded so much now."

"It's… a lot."

"I'd rather be overboard then come up short. We put our heads together and did some calculations, estimating that the clubhouse alone will eat up at least five. Realistically more. The fire pit's another one or two. Each house will use a couple, the Rambeaus easy double that as their place is bigger, and Alex's shop. I think that's all of it."

"Wow. How much is a cord, anyway?"

I'm glad Lena asked, because I know the camera is recording the whole conversation. In fact, rather than answer, Lucy just shoots said camera a significant look and Brainy sighs. "A cord is a standard unit of measurement in the United States and Canada that equates to a neatly racked and stowed volume of lumber of one hundred and twenty eight cubic feet; a cube four foot wide, four foot tall and eight feet wide. There are a great deal of variation, of course, due to the nature of the material, but that is the basic definition."

"And this," Lucy says and throws open to indicate the mountain range of fire wood, "is fifteen cords."

With explanations made, we begin to stack. And stack. And stack! As per our research, the firewood is layered first one way, then the other in rough columns with loose pieces filling the spaces between. When the pallet is about five feet tall, a tarp gets tossed over and ratchet straps to steady it for being picked up and tractored off to the low barn for storage. Then the tarp and straps come back for the next load. After some fumbling around, laughter and banter, we get the rhythm of the task. Split into two teams so we don't trip over one another, we make good progress into the mountain range.

Despite the persistent rain and the chilly temps, I'm quickly stripped down to my t-shirt along with about half the others. A mock competition of who can stack the most keeps us fired up, though we willingly take a break when Maria calls for it. Lena has appeared with the three girls, all of them huddled under umbrellas and with carafes in hand.

"If that's hot coffee, you really are an angel!" I call out as we flock over to the promise of something hot to warm our bones. Lena grins as mugs are handed over to be filled with steamy brew.

"Close. You'll have to suffice with a very fancy tea blend I love, lightly sweetened."

"Wow," Lucy exclaims in surprise. "This is really good, Lena. And I hate tea!"

Lena's smile widens in response and she hands me a cup. It smells of vanilla and earthier things. A sip, then a longer draught does nothing to identify what makes this shit so tasty, but frankly, I don't care. The tea is really too hot to just chug, but I do it anyway. Chuckling, Lena holds out her carafe and I eagerly let her fill the mug again.

"Just a little thank you for all the hard work," she says softly as I tilt the mug back to sip at it again. "And the show."

Yep. I choke.

\----  
**Lena's POV**

I take a childish glee in having gotten Alex to react like that. Revisiting our fantasies this morning with Sam has had me riled up all day. The gun show is doing nothing to cool me off either. It's impossible to take my eyes off Alex, drenched from head to toe, the t-shirt clinging wetly and those muscled arms glistening. That adorable forelock straggles down between her eyes as she coughs up the inhaled tea, waving off Kara's concern.

I like Kara, she's good company and her infectious enthusiasm has really driven my creativity with this fun aviary project. I'm actually looking forward to getting a tool in my hands and building something for the first time in my life.

Catching her breath, Alex sips and fiddles at her mug, reminding me for all the world like her canine shadow; wanting attention but not assured enough to search it out. It's odd how… shy she is. Then again, Sam and I have had to reel in shyer when we go fishing for some fun! Those are good memories and I can feel some of that edge into my smile.

Oh Alex, you and those expressive eyes are like catnip!

"I… I should get back to it," she half stammers and steps away in time to crash right into her cousin. Carol manages to keep them both on their feet, but is now wearing half the tea. 

"The hot tub is after the work is done, Middle D," Carol says wryly and just shakes her head as she walks away. "Disaster."

The very poster child of sheepish, Alex slinks after her, but not until after she shoves the mug at me with all the delicacy of a live grenade. The slosh of cooling tea over my hands is worth it.

With their good deed done, the girls are ready to be done and I'm happy to send them off. As long as Ruby is with Lily, I have few worries. They're good kids and there's no way that Maria and Carol raised a bad kid in Monica! Another random benefit of boarding school is that my daughters aren't around one another enough to get on one another's nerves much, and they've remained close all these years. 

As for me, there's no way in hell I'm missing any of this eye-candy. 

I've never been required to do physical labor like this, so I've always found it fascinating. That not a single member of this hardworking family is hard on the eyes doesn't hurt any. Even Brainy looks butch grabbing and stacking the seemingly endless pile of logs. They work methodically, with bursts of teasing and conversation and laughter all around. Over the drone of rain and the noise of the animals, I don't catch all of it. Though Alex jumping as though scalded and making an entirely undignified noise is unmistakable. Lucy quickly lashes out and stomps the ground nearby.

"Spider-phobe, you're in the wrong business," she teases and Alex just shakes herself out and warily gets back to work.

Despite my tired feet from standing around, I remain engrossed, startling when Sam's voice is suddenly near my ear.

"I see you're getting a show."

Happy to have her close again, I turn and snuggle up to cover us both with the umbrella and steal a kiss from that familiar smile. She's dressed warmly, her chic raincoat standing out in the rural setting.

"A most excellent show. Did you enjoy your soak?"

"Entirely," Sam groans with the remembered pleasure of her long bath. She's not usually one for that sort of pampering, but she was completely exhausted and chilled earlier. Raising her voice, Sam calls out, "hey, Nia? Can I steal you for a second?"

After they talk quietly for a moment, Nia looks surprised and eager and a little conflicted. Sam's laugh rings out and Nia brightens, earning open arms to throw herself into. After a long hug, they separate and a grinning Sam rejoins me.

"We're on dinner duty. Come join me when you get bored."

I linger for awhile as dusk arrives early with the help of the heavy clouds. Darkness is different here, a feral blackness like how the world must have been before we humans learned fire and its more civilized cousin, electricity. Frankly, it scares me. So, with a last look at the handsome work crew --lingering on Alex-- I head in to help my partner.

Thus far, the clubhouse is my favorite place on the farm. It's homey and classy and cozy, definitely encouraging lingering and togetherness. There are already savory smells drawing me to the kitchen where Sam is humming along to a playlist on her phone, hips swaying.

Why resist her? Wrapping my arms around her slender frame, I let my body echo the movements of hers and rest my head against the base of her neck. For some time I stay there while Sam works at the messy pile of flour and wet ingredients on the stone counter. I knew in a glance that she was making pasta and that I could take advantage of her being stuck in one place for some time. In this strange place, her familiarity is soothing.

The motions of kneading, rolling and chopping echo through her body to mine and my snuggle time is coming to an end.

"Nia gave us free run of the place," Sam says as I take a deep breath and move away from her. Turning, she leans against the counter, smile soft and loving. "This place is like a miniature grocery store."

So, I find myself seated at the battered dining table with a pile of raw ingredients to break down into useful sizes. Sam hums and fusses over a huge pot on the stove and putters around the kitchen as she gets ideas. We agree that the locals won't be in until full dark, so we're in no hurry.

Though it's not the work team that comes in first, but the welcome voice of my daughter. 

"That smells yummy!"

"It does!" Sam calls back as the girls and a new but familiar face join us.

I lean into Lily's fierce little hug, but keep hands and knife on the cutting board. "Did you have fun with Monica, sweetie?"

"Uh huh! She's nice. An' look! Maggie walked us over here in the dark."

Sure enough, the new woman is Lucy's Maggie, that dimpled smile even more warm and lovely in person. "Okay, you girls are good now. I'll go help the others out and come back for proper introductions later?"

"Sounds good," I agree easily and let the babble of the girls and Sam flow over me.

While Sam and Ruby work on a bucket of soup, Lily helps me scrounge piles of sandwich fixings. Using much of the table's real estate, we start building a sandwich mountain, Lily nattering on about her fun day with Monica and Ruby. As darkness takes over the windows completely, we eat from the bounty and still, the troops have yet to return. The girls move over to the couch to watch tv while I help Sam clean up the prep dishes.

"Do you think we should--" 

As though my question cued them, there is suddenly noise in the clubhouse, heavy steps and low voices bringing the sodden warriors to roost. 

"Soup?" Sam asks simply and I'm fairly sure it's Lucy that makes that suggestive whimper.

Rather than make them think, Sam simply grabs from the jumble of comically huge mugs she found and starts rapidly filling and handing them over. I wrap a paper towel around a sandwich and fill the other hand so they can start stuffing their faces before collapsing into chairs. 

I know what appetites this crew has, but I really thought the mountain of sandwiches and the giant pot of soup would be too much. But every one of them goes for seconds and a few have room for thirds. Kara even polishes off the last few bites of Brainy's second sandwich.

It's the most quiet they've ever been, live or on video. Frankly, it's a little eerie. 

Maggie gets up first, bodily lifting Lucy by her coat onto unsteady feet before wishing everyone goodnight and walking her out the door. That's signal enough for everyone to groan and get to their feet, trooping in their dishes and slumping out the doors. Only Alex and Maria remain.

"God, I want a bath," Alex whines and rubs rough hands over her face. 

"Dishes first," Maria teases and Alex huffs out a small laugh.

"I wouldn't trust myself not to drown right now anyway."

I'm not the least bit surprised when Sam approaches them, leaning against the counter by the sink. "We'll get it tonight."

"But…"

"Guys, you just moved a frickin' semi-truck worth of wood. I think we can volunteer to scrub a few more dishes." 

The sly grin that curls Sam's mouth is something I am very familiar with and my snerk of humor is ready for her teasing comment.

"You look dangerous to the flatware right now. We've got it. We'll call it payment for the gun show."

For a moment, I think the pair are going to object, but Maria breaks with a chuckle, straightening up from the jumble of dishes in the sink. "Well, thanks for that; we appreciate it. Come on, cousin."

I can't decipher the loaded look Alex lingers on us as she's basically marched out the door.

But I also can't forget it.

Cleanup only takes a few minutes to load the dishwasher. We've already taken care of the rest. As it really is too early for us to call it a day, Sam and I are happy to snuggle into the couch with the girls for a movie. It's been wonderful to spend so much time with my whole family, a proper vacation without the usual Sunday deadline looming.

The clubhouse very much feels like a borrowed space without the noise and energy of the Rainbow Haven Acres crew in it. They might have fallen into this somewhat randomly, and be learning as they go, but they have inhabited their space completely. For all the appeal of the videos tracking their journey, they barely scratch the surface. Knowing that intellectually and experiencing it firsthand has been quite the education. 

With that quiet pressing in, retreating to the RV after the movie is a silent agreement among us. 

The night is chilly and deeply dark, something that still unnerves me. I don't know that I could ever get used to it. Did Alex and the others feel this way? Do they still?

Unable to shake the unsettled feeling, I grab my laptop and retreat to the master bedroom to read over my messages from Jess and see how things are holding up in our absence. It's a relief to see that our professional lives don't miss us in the slightest.

"The fort holding up?" Sam queries quietly as she opens the lightweight door and slips in. "The girls are doing their homework. How many parents don't even have to ask?"

"That's because we're amazing," I tease. "And the benefits of a good boarding school."

Sam sits beside me, just close enough that our thighs touch. Neither of us are a fan of big distractions while we're in work mode and do our best to respect that. This time, I don't mind, poking the computer towards Sam so I can stretch my legs out and lean back into the bed's headboard.

"It's a relief, but disconcerting, that our lives don't even care that we're gone."

Sam curls herself up into an impossibly small shape in order to stay on her sliver of bed and plops her head in my lap. "It's only been three days."

"And when have we ever been away for more than two?"

"Alright, you have a point. It doesn't feel like three days, does it?"

I let my little scoff answer, trailing fingers through her hair in mutual relaxation.


	22. Gone Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, posting has been kinda erratic, right??? Well, the holidays are over and we're off and running into the next decade. Here we go!
> 
> Okay, so me and daskey have been cooking up this story for AGES and she even did some art! There is more, but you'll have to wait for it.
> 
>   
> daskey i put down two hibiscus flowers and they are on sam's boobs  
> shatterpath HAHAHAHAH! She probably looks for that on purpose, please  
> "Sam, why are you getting a man's extra large shirt?" "It matches Alex's tattoos and calls attention to my tits! Besides, it's only a large. Don't be dramatic."  
> daskey i'm just thinking now of alex having to do a double take. or better, she likes the shirt and compliments sam on it without realizing  
> shatterpath "Is she oblivious? Or messing with us?"
> 
> daskey: lena + thrift shopping. what a combination  
> Shatterpath: not to mention a Costco  
> daskey: bhsdkgjdffg oh my god. can you imagine lena getting the hang of grocery shopping then sam’s like “ok lena come with me to costco” and then she has to deal with the absurdity of all the bulk items. she doesn’t understand sam’s weird rules as to what to buy in bulk and what not to buy in bulk. sam’s like “we don’t need 30 ketchups” but then she’s like “ok we need all this toilet paper” and lena’s like “WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN”

\----  
**Alex's POV**

As used to busy days as I've been most of my life, the Stacking Of The Firewood had pushed even me close to my breaking point. Somehow I'd found enough residual energy to eat, grump back to my little house, grab a quick shower and change out my damn sheets. Feeling said sheets against my skin informs me that I apparently didn't even bother to put on any pajamas. Though I do recall Biscotti bitching at me for my wet hair in the bed.

It doesn't seem like I've hardly moved all night, BP still a warm, comforting lump against the small of my back. I can feel her tail thumping the bed, alerting Bissy that it's time for the morning harassing of the human. It's impossible to be annoyed with their affection, even if it means critter feet all over me.

Unfortunately the paws of my pets also inform me that I really am that sore.

With enough moaning and groaning that I'm a bit embarrassed at myself, I get moving, the fuzzy duo dancing and crying for breakfast. While they chow down, I get ready for my day. I'm mostly dressed when I pause, Carhartt pants in hand. I'm so used to wearing them, that I don't even think about it anymore. But I should change before hitting town. Mix it up a little. I'm pretty sure I have some jeans bought late summer that should fit, though I'll bet a bit snugly.

Wearing something that shows the assets off for the hot moms has nothing to do with it.

I'm not the only one straggling in late this morning, nor moving like I've been winged by a bus. In fact it's only Carol and Maria in the clubhouse, though Lucy is shuffling along like a pursuing zombie behind me.

Maria shakes a pair of ibuprofen into each of our hands alongside a mug and the taste and heat of good coffee starts the process of waking us up.

The Dawn Discussion goes quickly, the others divvying up tasks that will get better winter accommodations for our menagerie back on the top of our to do list. I feel sorta bad about bailing out on a busy day, but that's why we're a team. 

After a few more things are requested for the shopping list Kara has compiled, she taps them into her phone.

"I'm sending this to you and the printout will be in the office. You'll want to grab the whole mess of bins, because this is a lot."

"And I don't trust the sky to stay dry," Lucy chimes in as we all finish our coffee and head out.

Despite the cold and dark, mornings are my favorite time of day. The world is waking, the animals happy to see us and the whole day is waiting to be filled. It's glorious.

When the tasks are almost done, Nia offers a portable breakfast for our expedition, while Lucy steps up to help me get the big trailer latched tight to the truck's rear. The noise brings our guests, huddled against the chill and drizzle. Except for Sam of course. That summer-weight raincoat should have her shivering, but she remains seemingly immune to the weather.

"Good morning, gang. Are you ready for civilization again?"

They seem both enthusiastic and a little torn. Yeah, I feel that.

I get my guests in the truck with the heater on while Lucy and I finish takeoff procedures. Then it's grabbing the printout to shove in my jacket pocket, a box of delicious-smelling, foil-wrapped surprises and a couple of thermoses, and we're off!

Lena has taken the passenger seat, just as distracting as Sam's smile in the rearview mirror where she sits between the girls. Really, it's not fair for the universe to drop these amazingly attractive women in my path and all I can do is admire!

I've always liked being surrounded by the sense of family, and over a shared meal of breakfast burritos and lots of questions and humor over the course of the trip, we make decent time. The truck stop where the mountain starts to flatten out is a regular stop for shaking out the stress of the curvy mountain roads and relieving the occasional whining bladder.

It's hilarious to watch Lily and Sam skip hand in hand down the length of the semi-truck we're parked next to, peering around the ass end as though expecting a lion attack. Ruby lets them get halfway across the pavement towards the rest stop before she roars impressively and rushes them, making Lily squeal.

"Ruby, you're such a butt!"

They become an upright wrestling match to the bathroom nearby, growling and giggling the whole way. Clearly amused by their kids, Lena and Sam trail after them, vanishing behind the scarred door.

It shouldn't feel so lonely, standing there with only the hum of traffic and strangers to keep me company.

\----  
**Sam's POV**

Lena at a public toilet is always hilarious and, while this one isn't terrible, it's not great either. We stand side by side at the sink, washing our hands. She is the very picture of ladylike daintiness and I'm splashing water everywhere, including a bit onto her wrist. That dry glare always makes me grin.

Her pause at the impediment of the door handle lets me lean around her to get it, and the grateful smile is worth the effort. A smile that grows as we spot Alex nearby, balancing a travel mug in one hand while she muscles Lily off the ground to dangle from a strong left arm.

"Looks like you're not the only one fascinated with the arms," Lena teases and I'm completely taken by surprise, cheeks warming.

The truck stop isn't even particularly busy and is still jarring after the rural quiet of the farm. The truck is a welcome haven, carrying us back to the highway and towards civilization. While Salem, Oregon is no New York it feels like a bustling metropolis, a mix of the familiar and new. Stores and homes and gas stations and restaurants parade by until Alex pulls into a strip mall and I immediately spot a sign on one of the storefronts that reads, 'Willamette Humane Society Thrift Store'.

"Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the big places unless I can't find it elsewhere," Alex explains and pulls up to the door. "You guys want me to just drop you off and come back?"

"You're leaving?"

Lily's disappointment is all of us and Alex's smile it warm when she twists in her seat. "I can stay if you like, but I warn you that Costco is really boring. Though I'd certainly appreciate the extra hands."

"We can do that!" Lily enthuses and Alex's smile grows.

"Okay, done! Head in and I'll go park this beast to join you in a few."

I'm woman enough to acknowledge that the look and smell of this store is taking me back to the old days. Days when it seemed I hardly saw my precious Ruby, could barely feed us, keep us safe from the vermin. But those are just toothless memories, scattered at the girl's delight as they rush to an aisle with a smattering of Halloween ideas.

"Sam?"

Lena's voice is feather gentle, her hand wrapping around mine. When I feel my mouth curl in a smile, she echoes it back, concern fading.

"Just a reminder of how far I've come."

When I lean my head over, she pushes up to rest her forehead against my temple in a touch more intimate than it might seem. Bolstered again, I lead the way to join our daughters, not giving up my anchoring grip on Lena's hand. For a moment, the girls are reluctant to get to business and leave the Halloween goodies, until I utter the magic words.

"Find the grungiest things you can to play in at the farm."

That makes them light up in the delight of children who are getting permission to get filthy. Or at least the promise of getting filthy!

"You too, hot mom," I tease Lena and she groans as I drag her towards the women's section.

It's a perfectly fine secondhand store, well-stocked, grungy around the edges, and awash in the completely unique that all of these places have. Ruby scampers off for a shopping cart and returns with Alex in tow. She looks casual and rugged in those threadbare jeans that leave little to the imagination, a festive green flannel shirt and a less beat up blue Carhartt jacket. With a flash of grin at us, she allows herself to be pressed into service of the kids, which is fine because I'll have my hands full wrangling Lena.

Offering some horrible choices gets my partner's ire up, focusing her past the prissy cat reaction to our surroundings. Now it's a game! We get a laugh over some of the crazy shirts, I send her off with a swat to that fine ass with an armload of old denim with a warning to keep the baggy ones so that she can layer. I don't bother with the dressing rooms, my fingers remember how to do this, quick and efficient. Jeans, stretchy shirts with sleeves both long and short, even a few pairs of track pants roomie enough that Lena can steal them. My tall and lanky to her shorter and curvier rarely allows us the indulgence.

Dragging my finds off to the cart has me admiring Alex's ass where she's kneeling to help Lily with a Power Rangers jacket causing quite the excitement. With those hips, she could keep Lena in comfy clothes and I wouldn't even mind the bagginess that would make up for being three inches taller than both!

Ruby bringing over a few pairs of boots gives me a laugh when she waggles a pair at me. "These might fit Mama."

"They might, but I think we'd best pick our battles. Shoes that once were on someone else's feet might send her screaming from the building."

I follow Ruby's eyes to where Lena is walking back to us, laden down with less denim. No matter her casual clothes, she fits in here about as well as a Tiffany's in a strip mall.

"Point. But what are we going to do about boots?"

Alex chimes in then. "Don't worry about that. Our last stop will have what you all need to fill in the gaps."

Unaware of our conversation, Lena drops her finds into the cart and falls into my offered hug for reassurance. "At least they're all very soft."

"A good wash and it will be as though they were always yours."

Spirits bolstered with a cuddle --don't let Lena fool you, she's a cuddle slut-- she's off to help the girls and I can wander.

Look long enough and you can always find a fun, odd gem in a secondhand shop. Mine gets a giggle and I grab the things, fairly certain they'll fit. To avoid being caught, I take the long way around through the men's section, finding a really nice Hawaiian shirt that turns out to be real silk. Score! Besides, shrugging it on gives me some camouflage. 

"Hey, babe, check it out. Hibiscus flowers!"

It's so handy that two of the red blooms fall right on my chest and I can give my boobs a little tweak to deepen the exasperated amusement on Lena's face. 

"Sam, why are you getting a man's extra large shirt?" 

"It matches Alex's tattoos and calls attention to my tits! Besides, it's only a large. Don't be dramatic."

Oh, how I love to play with her! That exasperated affection never gets old. Grinning cheekily, I turn and nearly bump right into Alex. Those expressive eyes rake up and down even as her expression remains mostly neutral. 

"That's a good color on you, Sam."

Feeling playful always makes me bold. Handy personality trait for a bartender. So I grab Alex's hand and rest it on my belly. "And real silk too."

Okay, that sounded blatantly flirtatious, even to my own ears. Ruby is looking at me oddly and Lena is hiding a smile behind her raised hand. For a moment, Alex doesn't move, then lightly flexes her hand and pastes a somewhat stiff smile on her face before pulling away.

"Good find."

Turning her attention back to the girls, Alex moves off, leaving me pouting.

"Is she oblivious? Or just messing with us?"

Lena just chuckles and gives me a little kiss.

\----  
**Lena's POV**

It's cute how Sam thinks I don't notice her prowling the store looking for… something. I can only assume it has to do with the flash of pink and red she has tucked into her new-old Hawaiian shirt. It's not as though I would stop her harmless mischief, even if I could.

As I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by this place and all the… smells, I drift over to Alex where she idly pokes at a clothes rack and keeps an eye out on my girls.

"Silky boxers?" I can't help but tease. "Indulgent."

More than once, there's been a flash of something enticing in Alex, something that keeps me flirting. It's there again, in her crooked smirk.

"Oh, there's plenty you don't know about me."

She makes it sound downright suggestive.

With piles of clothes and a few odds and ends, we head for the checkout lines. A couple hundred dollars for full wardrobes for my entire family. Who knew? Then it's back out to the truck where Alex pulls out a plastic bin with a rubber-gasket lid and locking handles to pile our dubious treasures into and it's off to… Costco.

Sure, I've heard of the chain, but Sam has trouble even dragging me to one of the big box grocery stores. I don't like them, they're chaotic and noisy and overwhelming. Give me a nice boutique or mom & pop place any day!

Then we pull into a packed parking lot that looks like it should belong at an airport and I have a feeling I'm in for quite the experience. 

There's a flurry of impressively coordinated activity with Alex and Sam once we park what seems like miles from the hulk of the store. Two huge industrial carts are wrangled from a nearby corral of them and a couple stacks of the battered containers tossed aboard. Alex is willing to let the kids hitch a ride and we moms get a show of strength, the muscles in her legs and ass flexing and bunching.

Well that's a sight that takes the bite out of the chilly day!

Like foraging ants around their nest, a crowd of humanity streams in and out of the huge building. An employee checks something in Alex's wallet as we are swallowed up and carried along. And… this place really is a warehouse, isn't it?

We're dumped directly into the electronics and Sam grabs Ruby's sleeve to keep her from fleeing into the shinies. Once inside, the crowd disperses a bit and I can shift away from my near-cling to Alex's side. 

"Everybody have their phones?" she asks us. "Call if you need assistance. The clothing department and fun stuff is right in the middle if you want to hit that up. I'll go get the boring stuff like cat food and toilet paper."

So, more clothes it is. Though at least some of this stuff is more my style. Some of it is even decent quality. But watching Sam and the girls pouring over the winter gear reminds me that I'm here to dress for the farm. Sigh. 

Lily finds some good winter boots with a better tread for rough conditions, Ruby lights up over some shiny ski pants and Sam is thrilled with a jacket/pant combo in teal with a faux fur collar. She actually squeals when a very smug Ruby appears with a set of matching boots from somewhere nearby.

We find socks and a long row of books piled high that I willingly let the girls each pick something from. Reading is never a bad thing! Then I text Alex, who fires back that there's a huge wine department in the rear of the store if I want to go look. Well that's more my speed! 

While Sam takes the girls to wander, I'm left to look at the wines. It's all fun and games until I realize I have four bottles and several aisles to go. Thankfully Alex finds me, giant cart in hand. We tuck it along a display as unobtrusively as possible and use it as home base for short forays into the surrounding terrain. Once I'm done with buying what is doubtlessly too much wine, I follow my handsome crush through canyons of meat and produce. An astonishing quantity of… stuff is scooped up and carried in strong arms to be deposited with all the rest. It's insanity, but I can't complain about the view.

"Do you do this often?" I finally have to ask as I'm taking a break, sitting on the edge of the cart. With a smile, Alex plops down next to me, her leg warm against mine.

"No, thankfully. And as we get better at feeding ourselves, it will become even less. But when you're taking care of eight regulars and a steady stream of visitors, bulk is a lifesaver."

The stress of the noisy, crowded conditions fades in the fondness of her little smile. After a moment, she looks at me, a little self-conscious. "What?"

It hasn't stopped being cute, when she gets flustered.

"Nothing. You just really adore them all, don't you?"

"Yeah, I really do. Sometimes, you have to make your own family."

The memories of finding Sam and Ruby are one of the warmest places in my soul.

"Yes, sometimes we really do."

With some coordination through texts, the five of us are reunited and head for the crowded bullpen of checkout. It's going to take some time and I find myself looking over the two heavily stacked carts.

"Okay, the fresh produce I understand, even that much toilet paper, but why the thirty bottles of ketchup?"

The girls giggle as Alex gives me an exasperated look so like Sam my heart gives a little kick. "Thirty. Funny! Just for that, I wish I could drag you off to the restaurant supply place, just to see the look on your face at condiments in a five gallon bucket. But as we have two more stops, we'll skip it. Oh, and Kara really likes her ketchup."

Sam slides back into line just under the wire for checkout, arms laden with snacks. At least all of them aren't garbage. Honestly, what this woman can eat and still maintain that giraffe build astonishes me.

Employees whip through the mass of purchases, filling bin after bin from Alex's stack. The end tally is impressive and Alex hands over a card, asking if she might have a garbage bag to keep the quintuple stack of cat food bags dry.

"Why do you have so much cat food?" Lily asks as Alex is tucking the plastic around the top bag. Ugh, that smile is still a killer!

"I like to stay ahead of the need, to make sure we don't run out. And I'm feeding way more than just the cats you all know. Strays have started coming to us for food and warmth. In fact, if the aviary bores you girls, you can help build some winter housing for those strays. And maybe you'll have some ideas for winter feeding stations?"

Lily, of course, is delighted and Ruby seems intrigued. Good, I love seeing them get in new experiences. Enticed by the smells of things cooking, Sam volunteers to grab lunch at a nearby utilitarian food booth with its own impressive line.

"I'll meet you at the truck!"

Bizarrely, we queue up to be let out of the madhouse, a pair of employees taking receipts to give a glance over customer's carts before releasing us to the parking lot.

"What an odd place," is all I can sum up the entire experience with.

Despite the spitty rain, I can't help but linger over the show of Alex moving heavy bins and sacks of cat food to be wedged into some sort of order and lashed down with ratchet straps. Some artistic use of crinkly black tarps add some extra pizzazz to the dance and I applaud when she finishes. Grinning, Alex bows and flops down onto the edge of the truck bed, only to yelp and slip off.

"Dammit. Forgot I wasn't in the Carhartts. Denim isn't waterproof!"

I just lean over to look at the wet stripe across her ass and raise a brow for a laugh. The relaxed quiet that falls over us is nice. For all that I would like to get carnal with this interesting, sexy woman, I also just like her company. The dabbling in others that Sam and I do for fun has never been like this, long and drawn out over days and days, the target a rich and complicated person instead of just some attractive fun.

"I have to say," Alex muses over the hum of human activity all around us. "I don't miss this."

"After the quiet intimacy of the homestead, I'm starting to understand why."

Sam finally joins us at a loping run, laden down with a cardboard box topped with a pizza box getting soggy in the rain.

"Got lunch!"

We pile back into the truck and Sam hands out huge slices of cheese pizza and cheap waxed paper cups of pop. I almost make Alex choke when I mock, "as a New Yorker, I feel like I have to scorn this pie."

Coughing, Alex gives me a stink-eye and I suspect she means something more than her innocent comment of, "I like pie."

My wry glare just makes her smirk.

Once Alex wolfs down a slice with impressive speed, despite my sass, we're off once more. We pull up to yet another huge store, this one marked, 'Lowes'. There's a canopied area that looks like the blue-collar version of valet parking, several beefy trucks already queued up.

"This is just a pick up and will only be a few minutes."

With that, Alex is gone, leaving the keys in the ignition to keep the local 80s station playing. Ten-ish minutes of finishing our lunch and a forklift approaches, laden down with an impressive pile of narrow boards I think are 2 by 4s. Alex and a blue-shirted employee walk out with arms full of large boxes and the new supplies are strapped down. The whole thing barely takes twenty minutes.

"See? Easily done. Now, our last stop should have some fun for everyone, and is close by as well."

And so we city mice are introduced to Wilco. It looks like any other big box store on the outside --admittedly half the size of its larger cousins-- and doesn't seem all that different on the inside. Until I realize that yes, this is a small farm/homestead smorgasbord. Pet supplies, gardening, seeds, BBQs, building supplies, farm-themed toys and novelty items, and best of all, a clothing department.

We get there once Lily has been held back from attacking the toys and we all sulk in disappointment over the empty steel tubs where baby chicks would normally be for sale.

"Wrong time of year," Alex chuckles and shoos us off to look for clothes and shoes. The whole department looks like what Alex's closet would be if she had my budget. There's a particular aesthetic to the whole place, a telling of what these clothes are meant for. My girls scatter like excited chickens, thrilled to be given the opportunity to fit in at our temporary life.

We convene at the Carhartt gear, no shock there. Sure, there are other brands, but we don't even look.

Sam finds the warm jackets we truly need to be outdoors at the farm, heavy and sturdy. She goes for basic black, but hands me the same article, only in a dusky purple. The thing is so utilitarian it hovers somewhere between 'ugly' and 'cool'. 

I balk at the heavy pants the likes of which Alex lives in, but my girls go nuts over getting their own. Sam even finds some in the kid's section for Lily, who squeals loud enough to be heard in the parking lot. Oh well, at least it gets the attention of an employee.

One by one, we are each fitted with proper muck boots, heavy rubber like a truck tire and neoprene nearly to the knee to keep us dry. When Lily is clearly in love with the black and hot pink, who am I to deny her begging for us to match? She's clearly more attracted to the fun, colorful wellies, but knows how much abuse boots take at the farm from watching videos. Ruby picks out the same boot but in purple and Sam sticks with the black, but gets hers with the neoprene in a jaunty pattern. 

Left on our own, we go for hats and scarves and gloves and thermal underwear, carrying on like hyenas the whole time. Unsurprisingly, Lily is the best at the enjoyable chaos, bolting out from behind a display, draped in a huge flannel shirt and heroically planting her sleeve-covered hands on her hips. 

"Look! I'm Alex!"

In a display of magnificent timing, the woman being homaged strides in, grabbing a baseball-style cap from a rack. She drops it on Lily's head as she 'eeps' at being caught, grinning warmly. 

"Needs more Carhartt."

That leads the odd friends off into the sea of sturdy cotton duck fabric until Lily squeals in delight. It doesn't matter that the extra-small brown jacket just like Alex's is still too big on Lily, her delight is joyous. She flaps around in the thing like a satellite around Sam and her heavy, clompy work boots she's clearly not going to leave without. Even if they make her look like an uncomfortable cat someone has put socks on.

"Gonna take some getting used to," she says with a laugh that matches that megawatt smile, echoed in Alex.

"Yep. I remember. A big change from comfy hospital shoes. Not your style, Lena?"

The question sounds almost flirtatious, and I happily flirt right back. "Not really. Though there are a few of those cowboy boot style ones that have a certain… artistic flare to them."

That rolling chuckle matches her charismatic grin and I can't help but wistfully wish that she'd get a clue.


	23. Gone For You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> daskey: sam and lena sneaking around like they haven’t been unofficially married for years  
> shatterpath: haahahahaha! if they can find a pile of clean hay, they have to at LEAST make out a bit on it! I mean come on!

\----  
 **Alex's POV**

The drive home feels like a joyful affair and I'm delighted that my guests are as happy as I am to be doing so.

But I know the flavor of the subtext now and it's thick in my mouth, my brain… and lower places.

Ruby got the coveted passenger seat and her periodic regard is sharp and speculative. She's a smart kid and I'll have to bend a few brain cells to make sure she doesn't get bored. Or start wondering overmuch how I'm fascinated with her mothers.

The drive passes quickly as the start of dusk chases us up the mountain. Ruby sends a text message to the gang when I ask, passing over my phone. I feel that deep sense of belonging as the colorful sign flashes by in the dusky light and we turn in to the gravel lane.

"Good to be home," I murmur in real relief.

Most of the gang approaches as I pull up to the wide entry steps to the deck, their happy babble the best homecoming. With a few quick hugs and hellos, the Costco bins are grabbed and sacks of cat food hauled off to dry. A familiar noise from the direction of the dog run between my place and Brainy's barn, has me handing off a bin to Kara

"Give me a minute to reassure the dog."

BP is whining and pacing the fence with a frantically wagging tail that shakes her whole body. The stifled little barking noises she does her best to swallow reminds me that she must have come from an abusive home once. A fact reinforced at how she half-cowers even as she scuttles close to where I squat to hug her and enjoy doggy kisses.

"Yes, yes, my sweet girl, I missed you too."

I didn't chose this amazing dog. She chose me. Having a dog seemed the next logical step in my new farm life and I'd gone with Lucy to a shelter in Salem. There were so many needy dogs, but which one to choose? Then, there she was, skinny and skittish in the back of her kennel. Those expressive amber eyes met mine and she crept to the fence and licked the fingers I stuck through the wire mesh. In that moment, I didn't care in the least that she would be more work, as trauma clung close to her. In that moment, we were destined to be a pair. And as the farm had helped me heal, it could do the same for her.

Now, I hold BP's wiggling body to mine and rub her head and ears as I kiss between her eyes. It's no hardship to linger, kneeling on the wet cement, until she calms. By that time the truck has been emptied and stripped of non-construction cargo, so I can make a wide U-turn to get the trailer close to my shop.

When I go inside and flick on the lights, I am delighted to see that the gang made good on their word. Neat piles of pre-cut lumber lie awaiting assembly, stacked atop old moving blankets that are protecting the table pieces. Good, that will speed things up.

I've nearly finished unloading the trailer when the New Yorkers and Kara brave the rain to join me. Soon it's a party-like atmosphere as lumber becomes panels with hardware cloth stretched over them. Lena is pleased to be reasonably proficient with a drill once Kara coaches her through it while I cut the wire sheets to length and get them settled over their frames. The brad-nailer is a weak enough tool that the girls can use it to drive long staples into wood to secure the wire mesh. Lily is thrilled to be using a power tool while Ruby tries not to be gleeful as she wields a hammer to chase down misbehaving staples. Sam settles in on my ratty old couch to fuss over a happy BP and Bissy.

It warms me how disappointed they are to be called in for dinner.

Once full of tacos and salad, there is a another round of laundering the new secondhand clothes and back to the shop for more work. Lena is immediately huddled over my laptop with Kara to finalize measurements, the two of them giggly excited once more. It's adorable and a hell of a lot less distracting then the hot moms who seem to be extra affectionate with each other.

Or maybe I'm just thirsty…

I'm also lucky that the hammer blow I whack my thumb with, is a glancing hit and I wasn't really swinging, but more like an uncontrolled drop. My yelp draws every eye and I can feel the blush start at my navel and race upward like a heavy sweat.

"See? Gotta be careful," I manage to squeak out like an idiot.

Ironically, Ruby comes to my rescue. 

She hasn't interacted as much as the rest of her family, but she's a teenager, so this is hardly a surprise. But those alert eyes don't miss much and I can tell she's been absorbing every detail. Which is both daunting and admirable, not gonna lie.

Cocking my head towards Lily and giving Sam a significant look earns me a smile and a nod. They have work enough to keep themselves occupied for a few minutes and I need to shake off whacking my stupid thumb anyway.

"You like that project?"

Ruby jumps a little where's she's been staring at my little collection of potential projects tacked to the wall, turning away as though caught at something she shouldn't be doing. "Yeah, it looks cool."

She's trying so hard at being a prickly teenager it's almost cute.

'It' is a project piece off the internet I love; so much so that I printed it out and stuck it on the wall. Nodding, I jerk my head towards the back room.

"Want to help me build it?"

It's not at all a project with any urgency, but I couldn't pass up the most important component when I stumbled over it this summer on the cheap. Ruby's eyes light up as she recognizes the hulk of the old upright piano half-buried in the back room detritus.

"We can really make that?"

There's the eagerness I've seen in her when she's not being a teenager! My warm grim comes easily.

"Absolutely. Side by side with that table, and you can take home some valuable skills!"

We start in on getting the thing unburied, making good progress until about halfway through.

"Ruuuuby," Lily wails out dramatically. "Moms are being gross! Save me!"

While a part of me dreads walking back into my workshop to doubtlessly be further tortured by the hot moms, Ruby's wry look is an opening for connection and I grin at her.

"Hazards of being the big sister, huh?"

Back in the warmth of the workshop, Lily is the very picture of childish disgust and Lena is thoroughly amused where she is sitting up in Sam's lap. They were very clearly being friendly and my dreams will be haunted by that feline smile playing concert with Sam's smugness.

"Eeewwwww, gross!" Ruby chimes in with obliging sarcasm and Lily is delighted to be vindicated. "Right, Alex?"

Called out by the teenager. Was I just thinking that I was growing to like her? My half panicked and half sour look makes Ruby stifle a grin and leap over to grab her little sister in a chokehold/hug. That earns a little smile from Kara where she is the only one still at work.

"Someday you'll understand," I somehow manage to say and for what feels like the millionth time, try and ignore the speculative expressions on the couple's faces. 

It's getting later in the evening now and the project is about as done as we can get it indoors. So I call quitting time and ask for help cleaning up the mess. I put away tools and hardware while the others grab brooms and the shop vac to make short work of the debris. Then it's just shooing everyone out into the night's cold and locking up the barn. I hug Kara goodnight and we chat randomly while the visitors slip into the clubhouse for the last of their laundry. With it safe and snug in a totes to stay dry, the moms are managing the bulk just fine. So I don't even have anything to do with my hands, keeping them shoved awkwardly in my coat pockets.

At the RV, the girls rush in the moment Lena unlocks the door and I'm once again left with the hot moms and all the confusing subtext.

"So, we--"

Whatever Lena was going to say is lost as Lily comes flying back out, nearly swan-diving at me. Reflexively, I catch the body slam hug, impressed with the python-like squeeze from all four limbs.

"Thank you for a nice day," she murmurs where her face is tucked under my ear as I hug her back, relishing the sweet emotion from her affection.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Pass that hug onto your sister for me?"

"'Kay! G'nite!"

Sam and Lena quietly echo the farewell as Lily scrambles back inside and I can't help but feel like something was lost in the interruption.

\----

Morning comes too soon and I don't feel well rested at all. My whole body still aches from my impromptu workout in the barn after walking away from the RV. It felt good to get out some of the frustrations, beat the old punching bag, hang from the rafters by my hands and feet and push my muscles until my skin steamed in the cold.

Then I was starving, of course, and who the hell can sleep on a full stomach? Not me. So a fat sandwich and a long soak in the clubhouse and I finally braved the cold, dark night back to my little place.

Definitely gonna be snow very soon.

Still to wound up to sleep, I'd pulled out a strong beer and flopped down on the sofa with the boob tube… and woken up chilly and stiff at 3am. Sigh.

Slapping at my bleating phone, I roll out of bed with a groan at protesting muscles and head for the little shower. I feel grimy despite my bath last night. No shock as it looks like I was wrestling a badger in my bed. Even the pets had bailed out from what was a clearly restless sleep.

As much as I'd like a more leisurely clean up, not gonna happen this morning. So a quick strip and scrub it is.

As cold as the shaved parts of my scalp can get, it's nice that they're dry by the time I'm dressed for the day. Even more than last night, there's a feel in the air, even in my warmish cabin, of winter closer than it's been so far. My bet is snow by end of day for sure, but we'll still get done what we can of Kara's aviary. Better start with the roof though!

With that in mind, I pull on the insulated sweat shirt for under my heavy winter jacket as well as a fleecy neck tube. That way, I can pull it up over my lower face if it gets bad.

At the meeting, I don't indulge in the banter, too wound up and antsy to feel it today. I also ask if I can get breakfast on the go, wanting to get a jump on everything I want to get done before the snow starts. 

Absent from our early-morning meeting, Team NY wanders out after chores, minus Sam. Me and Kara have already gotten started on the polycarbonate panel roof.

"Good morning!"

My greeting sets Lily to running over to our worksite alongside the barn. "You are started!"

"Don't sweat it, kiddo," I reassure her small disappointment. "There is a ton left to do. And!" I pause to up her curious excitement a bit. "We're probably going to have snow sometime today. You can smell it in the air."

"Yay!"

Once again feeling the school nerd smitten with the most popular girl, I awkwardly greet Lena. Ruby's smirking gets her hauled off by the jacket collar, stifling her snickering.

"Come on, Trouble."

Tools and the rest of the pre-built panels are dragged into the cold so that we can get back to work. While many hands make light work, Kara and I have to keep an eye out on our inexperienced charges, so it slows the whole process down. 

That's not even touching on my fucking distraction. Not helped when a clearly drowsy Sam wanders out with a giant travel mug that Lena immediately steals. With an affectionate eye roll, Sam lets her do it, approaching me to whip out an impossibly adorable pair of imploring puppy-eyes.

Dammit.

"Can we go see the kittens? Please?"

There's something in that soft 'please' that short-circuits my brain, mouth gone dry and… well, other parts of me not dry at all. Clearing my painfully tight throat, I nod and my voice is rough. "Of course. Just keep an eye out for mama glaring. That's the hint to get out."

Oh, that smile…

"Yay!" she crows and does a cute little shimmy. "Glaring mama cat, got it. Anyone else?"

Setting aside their tools, Lily and Lena follow, Ruby shrugging and sticking with her fascination with the powerful pneumatic nail gun. After Kara looks torn for a moment, I laugh and shoo her off.

With the distractions gone for the moment and with Ruby's competent help, bracing and panels go up fast. As we work our way around the posts, wire panels become sheets of exterior cladding to make an adjoining shed that will later be sealed up and insulated. Right now, the shell is enough.

A flicker of movement catches my eye, Lily romping in the watery sunlight under the watchful gaze of her mothers.

"Your moms are pretty great," I try to make conversation with the teen, who glances over with an unreadable expression. Girl's got a hell of a poker face when she tries at it.

"They're not together, you know."

Okay, that is… unexpected. My blink makes Ruby shrug and look unsure.

"I mean, they are, but they've always… held back. At least I don't think they really are. It's hard to tell."

Truth is, I don't see what Ruby does. Where the couple is standing at the corner of the old barn, they look snuggly and in love and quietly pleased with one another. Sam is leaning on the old wood, Lena tucked against her, heads touching. They look like the cover of a rustic Hallmark movie.

With a ripple of movement and a muffled giggle, Lena gives Sam a gentle head-butt and merely gets her dark hair smooched. Puzzled, I look back at Ruby's thoughtful, conflicted face.

"Sometimes, I think they don't even really know what they are."

While I don't understand Ruby's conflict, that doesn't make it less real. Time for another tactic then. With over enthusiasm, I say cheerfully, "do you guys need some entertainment? Why don't you go exploring? It's cold, but dry for now. A perfect day to look around some more."

After a moment, Sam shrugs and asks Ruby if she wants to come along. Clearly still conflicted about opening up to me, she nods and heads off. Lena stays, but is once again deeply into chatty mode with Kara. While feeling left out a bit lets me get some actual work done, it still feel weird.

Though I'd feel left out forever if I never have to hear Lily scream like that again.

I'm in motion before the sound even consciously registers.

It came from out towards the stream where the trees grow thick and the ground is spongy underfoot. Lena is right behind me as I smash through low branches and grabby brambles. Thankfully, they didn't get far, Ruby kneeling over her mother, crumpled on the ground, a distraught Lily standing beside them.

"Hey, hey," I reassure Ruby as I join her. "I've got you."

Years of ER life flood back into brain and body. Lena has gone to Lily, Kara skidding to a halt beside me. Sam is conscious and a bit dazed, grumbling when I automatically keep her from trying to sit up.

"I'm fine. I didn't fall far."

A quick glance shows broken branches on the old tree beside us. 

"Yeah, well, that split brow says otherwise. Lie still, doctor's orders. Hey, Kara, can you go grab the first-aid kit?"

Without a word, Kara is off at a gallop to do just that while I start a basic examination of a grouchy Sam. There's no subtext now, as my hands come out of the gloves and rove over scalp and neck before cupping both.

"Roll onto your back. You good? Dizzy at all?"

With her body braced by the ground, I can press thumbs around the bloody gash over her eye, ignoring the livid crimson that hardly fazes me after what I've seen in my time.

"No, I'm fine."

"Yeah, well you're humoring me anyway. Call it being a good example for your kids."

The sass earns me a squinty glare that I ignore. Using the cleaner back side of one of my gloves, I do my best to wipe away the blood from her left eye where the wound has made a mess of her. At least those pretty pale brown eyes look clear, that's the best sign.

"Climbing trees, huh?"

The tease earns a wisp of smile and Sam gestures vaguely upward.

"I wanted to get a few of the apples."

Confused, I can't help but look up to see that, sure enough, the tree in question still bears a few apples, red with yellow mottled skins gleaming in the gloom.

"Huh. I never even noticed it."

Kara races back, suitcase of a kit in hand and I immediately appoint a freaked-out Lily as my nurse to focus her away from the scare she's had. Sam doesn't like all of this and grouses again. "I'm fine! Will everybody stop making such a fuss?" 

"Sam, as your temporary doctor, shut it. If you don't stop squirming, I'll get the sutures. Honestly, your kids would grumble less."

A quick wipe with an antiseptic pad and a butterfly bandage gets the gash closed up, then a bit of gauze and some tape finish the job. Ruby willingly helps me gently sit Sam up, my hands once again cupped around her head and neck.

"Anything else hurt?"

For a moment, Sam's eyes are evasive before she sighs, very much put upon. "My ribs hurt, but not too bad. Nothing sharp."

"Well, your breathing is normal, so we won't worry for now. Ready to try getting up?"

"What, no kiss?"

Now, I've been around this crew for just a few days, and the comment hardly surprises me. That Lena said it is a little startling, but it's good to hear the brave tease over the worried warble of her voice. Wanting to alleviate the fear in the little family, I cup a hand around Sam's cheek and lean in to press a kiss to the white gauze.

I didn't expect the little surprised smile on her face like she didn't expect it. Yes, my stupid heart gives a tiny kick at the softness of that expression. To cover my addled emotions, I rustle into the kit until I come up with the cliché of a sticker that happens to be a cartoon orange lollipop. Sam's smile goes delighted as I tease, "later, you can cash that in for the real thing."

"That's quite a kit you've got there."

The kits are miniature emergency rooms, built by my own hands. As I gently start tugging Sam to her feet with Ruby's help, I explain. "There's one of these in every building. The others rib me for it, but I guarantee they've used one at some point."

"Can't say I'm sorry about that," she concedes as me and Ruby drape an arm over each of our shoulders, snuggling close to her sides to start the slow walk back to the homestead.

The little family needs some quiet time to regroup and I reluctantly leave off my assistance as we get back to the RV and they troop inside. I manage not to startle, but do blush hotly as Lena curls a hand around my jaw to press a kiss to my cheek.

"Thank you," is all she says, her voice heavy with gratitude and relief before she too vanishes from my sight.

Oh, I need some good, hard work to distract me now…

After reassuring the others that our guests seem to be okay, Kara and I get the aviary roof buttoned up and the tools put away. The air has gotten so heavy I can almost taste the snow in those thickening clouds. Still antsy, I need a distraction as the others have taken care of the animals and equipment in anticipation of a storm. Well, cleaning is never in short supply. 

The huge, low barn has been a blessing for us. Not only does it protect our now massive horde of hay and firewood, but provides a much needed secure area for the ostrich indoors. We didn't manage to get the last of the old buildings from the defunct farm up for the alpaca and Jerkface, but we can shove them in here if the weather truly turns to shit. The old chicken farm building has been split by a wide alley to separate the two sides and that provides a place for utilities, storage and moving equipment around. Next to one of the giant intake fans is a person door that I enter to rummage through the cleaning supplies there.

The basics are done every day, but I can get in some more thorough work done, particularly with a storm coming that might keep the birds inside. The three big hens in particular don't like that. The babies are still gawky fluffs, admittedly large ones, and remain confined to their half of the indoor area and their outside pen instead of being out at pasture. As is normal, they are both curious what the silly primate is doing, and being stupid featherheads. 

I remain pleased how we designed the barn. There are few static fences, but most of the three enclosure area are crisscrossed with a great many of the heavy tube steel cattle panels modified to gates that can be swung around to connect at multiple points so that the space can be configured as we need it. There's not much in the way of actually handling the ostrich as they're strong and spook easily. So I configure them away from different areas as I work, dragging along wheelbarrow, rake and shovel. 

While I hate being snuck up on, I'm in headphones with some bouncy tunes chattering away in my ears, because I hate the sound of my breathing behind a respirator even more. 

The bedding for the birds is primarily truckloads of rough sand and small gravel over a hard pack of road-grade gravel that lifts the whole barn above collected water from rain and snow. That gets raked constantly, and periodically hosed clean in warmer weather. We also provide a few stalls of thick hay for warmth and snuggling into should they choose to. It doesn't get used much, so doesn't get fully changed out often, but that's my goal today. It keeps me occupied, my busy body keeping some of the fretting of my mind quieted.

Some of it.

After cleaning and rebedding, I have to take a break, rehydrating and yanking on my coat as stillness reminds me of the cold.

Stillness also lets my brain run wild, inevitably leading back to the hot disruptions in my life. Fascinated and frustrated, I hardly know what to do about all these hormones and… feels. I guess I need to head to town tonight and see if I can find something to at least take the edge off. I feel like a raw nerve.

Footsteps in the alleyway alerts me I'm no longer alone. Oh well. Even as I open my mouth to call a greeting, Sam's voice carries to me.

"So, since we’re all in here alone… how about a roll in the hay?"

Lena giggle-groans at the leer and their footsteps change from concrete to crunchy sand.

"You are a corny idiot."

With a filthy guffaw, Sam does something that makes Lena squeal girlishly, their bodies clearly in the freshly laid hay on the other side of the stall wall I'm leaning against.

Then there's kissing and sensual humming and fuck, what do I do now? They're definitely getting into it now and I'm stuck here with my hands over my face, dying of lust that is stronger than embarrassment. Christ it's tempting to yank off the gloves and get a hand down my pant, cause I'm dying here…

A startled yelp from Lena makes me jump and her outrage is completely ruined by the laughter clearly heard in her voice as she yells, "Sammy, get your filthy hands out of my pants! I will not tolerate this scratchy shit in my underwear!"

Despite myself, I have to grin as Sam laughs the filthiest laugh and the rustling of hay gets loud. I have to get out of here and use the noise to jump up in preparation of making a run for it.

But somehow I can't move.

After a few more noisy kisses, Lena hums sensually, "take me back to the RV and I'll let you put your hand down my pants."

This is me, dying.

I should have escaped while I could, but remain frozen like a deer in headlights as Lena steps out of the stall, fluffing hay out of her hair. She pauses, mild surprise flickering over her face, before that little curl of smile makes me feel hunted.

Look, I haven't missed that she's interested. I'm not that oblivious and she's been as subtle as Briar over a treat. But I can't get in the middle of the thing she has with Sam, no matter how tempting they both are.

Yet, I still don't move.

That little smile is pure filth as Lena sashays over with a sway to her hips that makes me instantly horny. God she's gorgeous. Like a poster child for easy, elegant femininity, she is a siren and just the sort to make me do something so, so stupid.

In a last ditch effort to be a good guy, I step back from her stalking approach and body slam the traitorous post behind me. Ouch. 

Then it's too late for me, one elegant finger landing on my sternum holding me prisoner against the unyielding wood against my back. The whole world seems to fade away as those hypnotic green eyes simply stare into mine. That feline smile grows.

"So, I've been patient, you lovely thing, but I think you need some more direct encouragement, hmm?"

Because of course her voice has to get deep and throaty now. Of course. I think my knees are about to give out.

"Can I kiss you?"

She's close enough to feel the heat of her breathing, but only that single fingertip touches me. Through the temptation and panic, I'm grateful for the respect.

Then a flicker of movement snaps my line of sight away from spellbinding green eyes to see that Sam has appeared, casually resting her forearms on the low stall door, smile indulgent.

Okay, I'm missing something here.

I can feel my eyebrows puckering up, my vaunted smarts reduced to gibberish between my ears.

"Hey, Big Al?" Sam's voice is gentle, soothing. "I think maybe you've missed the memo that we're both interested. Together or as appreciative audience, we're easy."

"I doubt there's anything easy about either of you."

The quip that falls out of my stupid head has the distinctive flavor of Sara. Dammit. Still, the relief that floods through me makes me feel dizzy. That was the part of the puzzle that I was missing, this exact scenario never having crossed my path before. But now that it's been dropped in my lap? 

God I want it.

"Yes."

I can't manage more than that hoarse whisper, still too discombobulated to do much else. Luckily, Lena is pleased to press her hand flat to my sternum and move in. That feline smile is warm lips and a soft, sexy hum that is a jolt from brain to pelvis. The touch stays chaste for only a moment as I draw in a sharp breath, her lips parting as though to chase that breath, catching my lower lip to suckle softly, the hint of teeth close at hand.

There's no fighting the need now, mouths open and wet as we kiss for real, my intellect reduced to the white noise of lust. One hand curls around the back of my head, ruffling the buzzed hairs and sending hot shocks down my spine, hips jumping.

And this is just an introduction kiss. My good god, lesbian Jesus…

The slide of Lena's other hand over my belly breaks up the kiss as I gasp. That's a sensitive spot! Be it deathly ticklish or a gas-pedal stomp to my lust, depends on the touch. Guess which one this is?

"Oh, I like that," she purrs, flexing her hand like a kneading cat and I nearly drop. "I'll remember this, guaranteed."

All I can do is stare at those hot green eyes, her lips wet and well-kissed, a little bite at that plush lower curse jolting me into action.

She giggles a little as I remember I have hands, sweeping her close to press in and get some of my own power back. She tastes good, feels better, her hands roughly knocking my hat askew as she grabs my hair. Little touches of tongue in the hot kiss is a little parry-thrust of tease as sexy as those nipping teeth. Somehow, it doesn't shock me that Lena is a biter and I get ever more turned on.

Even as the gutter swallows me up, a throaty chuckle gently separates us. Not Lena's chuckle, but Sam, still watching with that indulgent smile that has filthy dancing in the corners. Lena scratches at my scalp, making my stare at Sam get a little unfocused.

"Go ahead, if you want," Lena encourages gently, giving a little push at my bare head as she steps aside. Lust drunk and in their thrall, I stumble over, nearly crashing into the softness of Sam and the hardness of the low door between us.

Unlike Lena's advances, there is no hesitation here, Sam's hands around my neck and skull even as she leans down to kiss me like she's waited a million years for it.

I hadn't imagined this, hadn't even realized this is what all the subtext was that has been torturing me since meeting them. Now, it's all I want, moaning into the sultry kiss, the lilt of it becoming a high-pitched squeak of delight as Lena cuddles up to my back, hands spreading over my belly. The thrum of Sam's chuckle in my mouth and brain rattles through my body every bit as the thrilling lust of their touches.

While Lena kisses like she knows exactly what she wants, Sam's mouth is playful persuasion, a promise of mischief if you just go along with her.

And I'm a goner.


	24. Baby Quit Thinking And Start Doing Something

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! After a month hiatus, here we finally are! Lotta winter blahs and writer's block, but I did finally get moving with this scene. Obviously, there is more bonding to happen, but better a shorting chapter than a longer wait, and really, that final zinger of Alex's is perfection. You'll know it when you read it. :)

\----  
 **Lena's POV**

Watching Alex's face go through the journey go through the confused moment of, 'oh…' that became a delighted, 'oh!' was heartening. But now, I have other needs, grabbing the sturdy waistband of those fetishy Carhartt pants to haul her after me, my destination her little green house.

I suppose I ought to be at least a little concerned about embarrassing Alex in front of her family, but right now I'm wound up and can't bring myself to give a fuck. Hopefully the kids are still occupied…

That stops me dead in my tracks, torn between hormones and my children.

Fuck.

Sam might come across as a bit high-strung and even silly at times, and is notorious for not giving herself enough credit, but has a track record of being intuitive as hell, particularly with me.

"I've got it, baby, keep dragging the warhorse off," she teases, already tapping at her phone where she's dawdling after Alex with enough of a smug spring in her step to attract attention. Oh well, better to beg for forgiveness and all that. Alex still has that sort of drunken, bamboozled little grin on her face, not at all fighting my bossy hand. And there's a gleam in those deep, dark eyes that is making me prickle with hot want like sweat. If I'd realized all she needed was our want spelled out for her, we could have been doing this days ago!

But, really, I wouldn't change a moment of the experience so far.

It gets dark early here, so early twilight and those heavy clouds cloak much of our shenanigans in dimness. The porch light is a glare that tries to distract me, but at least illuminates the blue door that thankfully gives way at my touch. I take distracted note of the lines of the cute little house I remember from videos, and that gives Sam a moment to slip in the door and close it behind us. Then the heat of Alex's belly against my hand is a magnet to my want.

She doesn't fight me pushing her against the doorframe and the window right next to it, her little smile enticing. Having been with Sam for years now, I know a silent 'make me' when I see it and my inner bossy bitch puffs up at the challenge.

Oh, the way Alex stutters in a harsh breath when I press fully into her, body to body?

Delicious.

"Can I kiss you?" I whisper, almost brushing those soft lips with my own, her breath hot and fast.

"Yes."

We're not complete strangers anymore and this second kiss is even better. Those strong hands fall naturally into the small of my back, tugging me more firmly into the sturdy lines of her body. The feel of her hair woven into my fingers is as good as the stretch and flex of her neck.

I've fantasized about this for a long time and frankly, I'm impatient to get my hands on Alex and vice versa. So my involuntary little noises are half lust and half frustration. Also, I might be grabbing a little tightly, though there's been no objections so far!

Her grip is pretty unyielding too, her mouth active, body tense. Until she abruptly breaks off the making out, nearly cracking her head and my hand into the window frame.

"Hang on, hang on," Alex gasps and my stomach drops. "I need to take care of BP, or we won't have a moment's peace."

Oh thank god that's all the delay is. Reluctantly, I give up my grip on her, move away from that deliciously solid body. Alex flashes a smile at Sam and shoos both of us into the house to kneel and pay attention to her patient dog for a moment. While still jangly with horny need, I still look around the small space. It looks different now, after months of habitation and no longer a new space. There's only about twenty feet of even partial wall space and nearly half of that is couch and a battered end table. The rest is mismatched bookshelves, all of them heavy with books and personal clutter. In the bric-a-brac are a jumble of awards and action figures alongside stacks of CDs and small carvings in wood and stone.

Scratching at the front door turns to Biscotti's chattering on when Alex opens the door to let her in. Kibble rattles into bowls and water is freshened up. We humans have shed our heavy outer layers and there's a new appreciation of revealed body shapes. Duty done to her furry companions, Alex gives each a last pat and turns her focus to where Sam and I stand in her living room.

"My apologies in advance if there's an extra pussy in bed by morning. Bissy's not good with boundaries."

For a moment, the terrible joke hangs in the air before Sam snerks and Alex's hesitant little grin warms.

"That was awful," I chide and the grin grows to a little arrogant. God, it looks good on her, that awakening swagger.

"Yeah, but it still made you smile."

She's not wrong.

"Okay, so while normally I'd be a good host and offer a drink and some conversation," Alex says with misleading nonchalance, "now that I'm with the program, it seems a little redundant."

"Arrogant," I can't stop the tease, but I can't hold back my delighted smile either. Alex only shrugs, more smug than sheepish. There's a moment where the earlier awkwardness threatens at the periphery, before Alex clears her throat and steps closer to Sam.

"Can I kiss you?"

Sam nods and Alex looks fondly exasperated --which makes me chuckle, because that's me most days-- and Sam relents with a fake-dramatic sigh.

"Yes."

While Sam might have controlled that first kiss between them in the barn, this time she's taken by surprise. There's a rumble of something deep in her chest at Alex's hands in her hair, that sweet mouth avidly taking the lead, and I'm steeping ever hotter in my own juices. I don't miss Sam's hands cupping around those broad shoulders and the additional sexy sound muffled in Alex's kiss. After all, she's been lusting after that powerful breadth for a long time!

After a few heated moments, Sam separates only far enough to breathe over Alex's smug face, nuzzling at her nose and laugh lines. "Think I could get this flannel off?"

"Oh, I suppose," Alex teases and unloops her arms from around Sam's slenderness to give access to the plastic buttons running down her front.

"You make a very enticing package," Sam muses as she works at the buttons. "I almost felt guilty sitting with the girls and ogling all those months ago."

Alex chuckles along with my own gentle amusement and her hands are soft as they smooth over Sam's hips, exploring the shape of her. Then the flannel is swept aside and Alex obligingly drops her arms to let it fall away completely, revealing those muscled shoulders, frustratingly still hidden under a thin, skin tight layer of warmth.

"Come on," she invites, pausing when I find myself frozen for a moment. An extended hand is as inviting as her slightly nervous smile. "Don't back off now. You said the two of you were in this together."

Oh, I try not to snicker, I really do. And fail miserably. "Sorry, sorry," I gasp around my high-pitched giggling. "Filthy mind."

For a moment, they both stare at me, until they figure it out at nearly the same moment. I graduate to full-out belly laugh at their blushing and Alex unceremoniously herds us into the cramped bedroom, slamming the door behind us. I don't resist the little shove to the disheveled bed where I can laugh out any remaining nerves.

Then Sam is stripping off Alex's tight undershirt to reveal smooth skin and enticing ink. And, oh, the delight of that strong body close enough to touch!

"Wanna watch?" Sam purrs and slips around to snuggle into Alex's back, leaving me with all this real estate to revel in. Alex makes that high-pitched huff of reaction again as I flatten both hands to those coveted ripples of abdominal muscles and relish the shiver of lust that rattles down my spine. The art of line and color in her skin winks and teases between my splayed fingers as I pet over Alex's midriff. Her squirming and stifled giggling is adorable.

Roving upward, I teasingly run a nail along the tight elastic of the sports bra that is now the only thing covering her upper body.

"Can we take this off?"

"Yeah."

Oh, I like that breathless tone, the intensity of those blown-black eyes, now dark as night. With a little giggly help from Sam, the bra is wrestled away and I can continue my petting, running sensitive fingertips over the pressure grooves in her skin. The freed breasts are a nice handful, more than Sam and far less than mine, and the contrast of the soft lower curve of them and the hard muscle beneath is another push to the lusty mood in the room.

So, I don't resist leaning in, running my hands over her ribs and into the small of her back, Sam's belly warm against the back of my hands, and lick hotly over taut skin.

Oh, I do like the sounds Alex makes!

For a moment, there's a hand on my head, a flex like she wants to grab, and I hum encouragingly. "Go ahead. Just not too rough, okay?"

Heh! The hum of my words on her skin makes Alex squirm and I just close my eyes and wallow in the fulfilled fantasy of touch.

\----  
 **Sam's POV**

Ah, at last all the hard work has paid off! And what a payoff it is!

"Sexy, hmm?" I have to tease our new conquest, while still exploring these glorious shoulders and arms. "You just let us take care of you, hot stuff. You can return the favor soon enough." 

Alex just hums something sultry, words not needed, another high-pitched lilt as Lena gets bolder with her attentions to that ripped belly. I slide a hand down her arm, relishing the power there, and cup my hand around hers, Lena's silky hair tickling our skins. There's no need to pull or grab, she's quite happy with what she's doing, but a little touch encouragement is never a bad thing.

With that thought in mind, I anchor my other hand at Alex's waist and nuzzle at her neck and the shaved fuzzies behind her ear.

"You guys are killin' me," Alex rasps and Lena chuckles, low and throaty.

"Oh baby, you have no idea what we're going to do to you." With a flash of white teeth, Alex 'yipes' like a dog and Lena tilts back to grab the button closure of the heavy pants. "Can I take these off?"

"Please."

The button gives way, but I laugh at the struggle over the metal zipper that requires both of them to undo. Then the heavy fabric starts to fall, and I move my hands to offer Lena help to stand and a friendly shove to send Alex flailing into the bed.

"Rude," she says mildly, rolling onto her back to watch as Lena strips off her shirt before bending over to run a teasing finger over the tight briefs now revealed.

"This is a sexy surprise," she teases, grabbing the elastic waistband delicately to snap it against Alex's abs. The thin, skin-tight briefs are unusually, knee-length, and clearly meant for an appendage she doesn't have naturally.

"The pants chafe."

The heavy canvas is even bulkier than it looks, still stiff even as they show clear wear and tear. Luckily there are zippered inserts in the laces of her work boots and they are discarded towards the little closet with a pair of thuds. Grumbling about her own boots, Lena sits at the edge of the bed to struggle with the unfamiliar footwear. That gets the rest of us in motion, Alex sitting up and squirming around to cuddle up behind our struggling femme while I crouch to help with laces and socks.

"All these layers," she grouches, though there's no heat to the complaint save the fire from Alex's curious mouth on her neck.

"Fun to unwrap though, right?"

Maybe it's the mom in me, but I reflexively get a grip on the layers cocooning Lena's lower half and strip the whole mess off in one smooth move. Before she twists around to pounce on our new playmate, there's a sweet caress over my cheek and chin.

Somehow, Lena always knows when I'm feeling vulnerable, even when I don't realize it. This situation is different. We _like_ Alex, and we've been wanting this exact situation for months. This is no fun quickie with a horny coed.

For a moment, I just watch, caught up in the enticing picture they make; a study in contrasts. Alex's heavily muscled frame isn't narrow-waisted by any means, but those sturdy hips and shoulders give her a warrior hourglass figure that is a hell of a sexy contrast to Lena's narrow voluptuousness and my beanpole. Now I've paused long enough that the kissing winds down and they both look at me. In eerie tandem, both reach out to tickle a hand over my knees and look welcoming.

This is no time to be a chickenshit, Samantha. 

Breathing deeply to chase off the doubts that plague me too often, I strip off my shirt, relishing Alex's warm comment of, "hey, you've got some muscles under there, Sam. Sexy."

Yeah, okay, so I'm not immune to a little sweet talk. Sue me.

Inspired by the warmth of both their gazes, I roughly wiggle out of my bra and get my fly loose before sitting on the bed.

"You look downright giddy," Lena teases as she traces the shape of Alex's wild grin.

"Well _yeah_! You two are a fantasy come true. Can't blame me for staring." Abruptly attacked by nerves and doubts, I can feel that horrible old tic of chewing at my lip pop up. It takes a conscious effort to stop it, eyes wandering while I rope myself in. "Do you think I could watch? I mean, I want to play too, don't get me wrong, but this all started from watching and I really like it and…"

So suave.

Lena has the sort of expressive eyes that poets moon on about, fathomless in their jade and sea green. Right now they are soft and sweet with reassurances, our intertwined lives needing no words sometimes. In the harsh electric light, Alex's gaze is effectively black, a glimpse into a dark, exhilarating mystery. But there is no fear of her, the crinkles of smile making her whole face soft.

Yeah, I'm feeling a little choked up even as I squawk from being roughly yanked into a group hug that has Alex squeezing the breath out of both of us. 

"I'm following your lead, ladies," Alex murmurs in the sort of giddy-stupid tone I know very well. God knows Lena reduces me to that on the regular. "I was just being obtuse because I didn't realize you were both into this and I'm not going to get between an established couple, no matter how tempting."

"Well at least I'm not the only one who rambles when horny."

My deadpan earns a belly laugh, rich and high-pitched, Lena giggling along.

"Duh," finally makes it out of Alex, relaxed and breathless from the laughing jag. "I mean, I should have known. I'm hot shit after all."

The cheeky brag has green eyes narrowed and Lena pauses in her distracted stroking over Alex's skin to tickle at belly and ribs. Instantly, the workhorse is squealing like a piglet, bursting into action that has me ducking an elbow and a delighted Lena getting rolled under that muscle-heavy body.

Yeah, this is the show I was hoping for; my Lena, soft and flawless, trapped beneath our tattooed tank of a new lover. The kissing is little more than goofy grins pressed close while Alex growls a warning about as scary as a puppy and Lena barely stifles down her giggling, expression saying, 'make me,' far more clearly than any words.

The high energy settles into proper making out, mouths and bodies blended, Lena's sweet little moan as sexy as ever! I can't resist reaching out to smooth my hands over the hard planes of Alex's shoulder and back, soaking up the little shudder of reaction echoed in her own moan.

"Roll over, you," Lena finally orders and Alex complies eagerly, nearly rolling me right off the bed. Somehow she contorts and gets one heavy arm around me before I fall and break the mood. I can't complain, I get the best seat in the house and I've been coveting these arms since the summer videos showing off how ripped Alex has gotten with hard work! "Mmm, don't you two make a pretty picture. Just stay like that and let me do my thing, hmmm?"

Ugh, that sultry tease!

My pout earns a smile that is pure exasperated affection. Sitting up and arching over Alex gets her a facefull of Lena magnificent chest and I get a long, sweet kiss. After a few moments, she pulls away with a sultry giggle and Alex looks innocent where she's clearly been exploring the boobs in her face.

"Soon, baby. I've been fantasizing about you for a long time. You wouldn't deny me, would you?"

Hypnotic.

So Alex, clearly horny and in Lena's thrall --yeah, I get that-- lies back even as it's clear this isn't her usual MO. Kisses over sternum and a quick lick over the Vibranium tattoo over her heart and Lena has wiggled her way down to nuzzle at those nice tits.

"You can go a little harder," Alex rasps, arching and groaning when Lena instantly complies. I wonder if that pillow is going to get ripped to pieces the way she's yanking at it. The flex of Lena's jaw gives away that she's not just sucking, but there are teeth involved and Alex anything but minds it!

"Very nice," Lena compliments and gives each reddened nipple a last little smooch before working her way down to where we all know she really wants to be. Alex is breathing like a marathon runner, staring in absolute concentration where Lena is taking great delight in tracing every muscle and groove between with lips and tongue. Right down the center is particularly effective, making Alex groan and squirm beautifully.

"May I take these off?"

"Please!"

A little awkward wrestling with stretchy cotton has Alex naked and Lena chuckles throatily as she continues to explore.

"Blue."

The random comment makes Alex explode into laughter. "Did you get me naked just for that?"

Tease that she is, Lena blows a wet, noisy fart against rock-hard abs and Alex laughs again.

"Not the _only_ reason."

Oh! The tattoo! Of course. The hibiscus blooms inked lovingly into her skin cover significant territory, starting from halfway between boob and bellybutton to wander down to the hidden blue flower that nestles right against wiry pubes. More kisses to that new discovery turns Alex's hilarity back to lust and she's starting to sound a little desperate.

Well, maybe it's time I got a little involved!

Leaning over her, I pet her seating face and tease, "poor baby. She's mean, right? Tease you until you're ready to scream for it. I know. Ah, but you're so gorgeous, desperate like this."

While I miss Lena's first deep dive, I get to watch Alex's face. I'll take it, because hot damn! I rub my free hand over Alex's arm, relishing the straining, rock-hard muscles there, before roving afield to enjoy touching more of her amazing physique, finally coming to rest on Lena's silky hair where she busily suckles away to see how long it takes to get Alex off. 

Not long, it turns out.

With a ragged, gasping shout, the climax hits, Alex writhing hard enough to nearly throw us both off. But we're persistent and enjoy the sexy rollercoaster.

"Very nice," I praise as the shudders wrack Alex and she pants down from the high. Lena hums happily and reverses her journey, rubbing against my gentle hand like a cat.

"Whew, you're good at that," Alex manages to wheeze out, slowly relaxing into the bed and lowering her arms so she can join me in petting Lena. A twist of mischievous grin gives me some warning, but Lena stands no chance, spluttering in hilarity at Alex's cheeky remark.

"So was it worth 150 grand?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> daskey: i love her contradictions. i feel like i say this every time akfjksg  
> Shatterpath: dude, it's one of the best parts about alex! you can say it a million times!
> 
> (from Mandylynnw); Alex needs to make a joke at some point about the donation. Like after the first time the three of them have sex Alex says, “so was all of that worth 150 grand?”


	25. Compatibility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What? You didn't think they were DONE, did you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And look! It didn't even take a month this time! Lena totally ran away gleefully with this chapter, absolutely refusing to relinquish control of the POV once she had it. Who am I to argue? Not the longest chapter, but the parting line was just too perfect to pass up. :)

\----  
 **Alex's POV**

Their combined laughter is a delight, every bit as good a rush as the drumbeat of orgasm still in my cells. I don't want to move, because enjoying the endorphin dump is part of the fun, but my new lovers are both antsy. Well, since Lena remains sprawled out on top of me, that seems like a fair place to start. The switch from wandering hands being casual to seductive isn't missed and Lena makes a low, sexy sound. Yummy!

"So, that was fun," I tease her throatily. "But I didn't get much of a chance at those gorgeous tits of yours."

I'm ready for more play, but first, a nice, big stretch right down to the toes to get my circulation reminded of how it's supposed to be working. Besides, the showing off gets a happy noise out of Lena and gives me an excuse to worm my arm back under Sam's head to drag her close.

Pressing herself up onto her elbows, Lena grins at me, and I know the signs of a playful lover. Now, I know my best assets with the ladies, and that was before I was built like this! Soften the eyes, curl the slightest pout and look sweetly adorable.

"Please?"

Works pretty much every time.

The lady is a good kisser, involved, active and a mix of aggressive and coy. I enjoy it and let my hand wander over her back and side, while the other one does similar to Sam. God, but they are an excess of riches! I hardly know what to do with myself.

While they get my motor revving again, I get a chance at Lena's amazing chest. She's stacked, particularly for someone of her stature, and I'm having a blast at the new terrain. The squeak and admonishment for getting too aggressive at all that delicious softness teaches me her basic limits and I file the info away. Meanwhile, I'm tickling over hip and belly, because I know where that hand wants to be.

Luckily, Lena is just as eager and with a few strokes over that soft-firm belly, I can feel the brush of neatly-trimmed pubes and slide easily into the heat and wet below. We both make a happy noise at that, Sam chuckling warmly and doing something with her hand that gets a whole new sexy noise from Lena.

I'll take the time for pointers later. In the meantime…

An introductory pet over Lena's clit gets a little shimmy, but a stroking pinch makes her hips jerk and her voice warble urgently. Noted. Running the calloused hills and valleys of my fingers through her softness gets a feel for the layout and I circle my index finger around where she is so hot and wet.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes!"

Any attempt to take it slow is kyboshed by a sharp thrust of Lena's hips and I relish the wet heat of her wrapped around my finger. That guttural groan is fuel on the fire, Sam squirming anxiously at my side. I can feel her fingers at my hip where she's clearly touching herself and I reflexively clench my hand up in her silky hair. That gets a choked cry, but certainly not one of objection as Sam's whole lanky body seems supercharged with lust. I'm loving the damp burn of their mingled breath as they kiss and lick at the corners of my mouth, panting and whining urgently.

Sam gasps out a little cry first, humping against my hip, and it's enough to send Lena over the edge, moaning sweetly into my dopey grin while her body clenches rhythmically around my finger.

"Gorgeous," I breathe out with true appreciation to the sexy spectacle and gave Sam's hair a tug as Lena begins to relax. "You're not done, are you? So much energy and heat in you. Get naked and if you want, bring your ass up here and straddle my head. Lena, you got enough gas left to give her a hand?"

"Yeah," she says a little breathlessly and whines when I retrieve my hand and Sam nearly rolls herself onto the floor in her eagerness to get naked. I can't help my chuckling when she strips and scrambles up to stand on the bad, nearly trampling me in her eagerness. 

"Easy, sexy. There we go, nice and easy. I don't have enough hair left to catch with your knees, so you're good."

It is so wrong on so many levels that watching Sam fold up those long legs reminds her of watching the alpaca cush and it takes real effort to choke down a laugh into a cough and help Lena get Sam settled. Thankfully, I have the most pleasant of distractions and nose through wet curls to get my first taste.  
The happy hum makes Sam squeak and grab at Lena as she slides up my torso to tuck herself in close. 

"Feel good, Sammy?"

Yep, Lena is definitely the tease of this partnership, voice husky as she skims her hands over Sam's tits and belly, just as I am doing. Despite Sam being the focus of our attentions, Lena makes the effort to pay me attention, petting pet gentle fingertips over my eyebrows and making me smile at the tenderness.

I knew they were good people when I met them, and it had nothing to do with the money!

"Oh christ…" 

The hoarse cussing is the signal for Sam's motor hitting the next highest gear, and to keep her from squirming right off my face, I lock my arms around those slender thighs. Heh, she likes that, whining and begging while really struggling for the freedom of movement she wants. Wonder if she'll let me strap up and have both hands free so she can play bucking bronco all she wants?

\----  
 **Lena's POV**

Head back, hips working overtime and making a lusty racket, Sam reaches back to cling to me. There is an edge of desperation in her touch, of needing me to anchor her, and I love it. She is usually so in command, even in lovemaking, and certainly during our swinger playdates!

So, certainly my Sammy isn't used to being manhandled, as it were; to being so effortlessly restrained. While there is real strength in her slender solidness, she is no match for the muscled arms holding her tight. Oh, and is she enjoying herself, whining and gripping at me too hard while she enjoys fulfilling so many fantasies about experiencing Alex's obvious vigor.

I'm relishing Sam's abandonment to the experience, loving watching as much as if I were the one being eaten out. Though I'm certainly looking forward to being at the mercy of that smart mouth myself!

"So beautiful," I whisper in Sam's ear, tracing my tongue around the shell and nibbling at the lobe. 

Alex is just as involved, humming across about an octave a half as she works, her powerful frame writhing sinuously, seemingly taking no note of the weight of two grown adults on her. I love it, and Sam and I have made any attempt to hide our appreciation of her physique!

Alex does something and Sam makes an unholy sound, climax seizing her up like an engine in the coldest winter while Alex actually growls. Lost in the sensations, Sam arches until her head is pressed into my shoulder, yanking at my thigh and hair.

"Gorgeous," I softly echo Alex's earlier statement and gently tug Sam more solidly into my body as she starts to come down, freeing up Alex to work the soreness from her jaw. Strong arms draw us down as one mass to snuggle into Alex, Sam more sprawled along her side and me happily using them both as a mattress. 

For long moments, we breathe together, bodies easy with this new dynamic. It's different, but delightful.

"Bummer I was being obtuse earlier, but the buildup was nice."

I can't stop my giggling at Alex's sass, Sam snorting and giving her a playful headbutt that makes her hiss. 

"Oh, Sammy, your head!"

Sam hates being fussed over and Ruby is just like her in that respect. All too often I ignore their squirming and do it anyway. Alex doesn't even hesitate to reach over my head as best she can to thumb near the purpling beneath Sam's skin.

"You shouldn't be exerting yourself, Captain Headwound."

"I'm fine!"

Skeptical at the pouting, Alex merely eyes Sam for a long moment before placing the softest, sweetest little kiss on the small square of gauze over the cut. And my Sam? My tough, New Yorker Sam? 

She blushes like a schoolgirl.

Adorable. 

"Just no more headbutts, okay?" the gentle teasing abruptly becomes Alex gathering herself to go into motion, despite our mutual whining. "Pee break! No, don't complain at the doc, it's good for you. Shoo!"

I'm up first and head out, nearly balking at the few shades pulled around the cozy living area. But the lights are out, illumination coming in from outside, and that gives me enough cover. BP jumps up where she has been holding vigil against the bedroom door, ignoring me to go to her human.

I do as the good doctor ordered and wet down a washcloth before swapping out with a slightly wobbly Sam. 

"Worth the wait?" I tease and Sam giggles and plants a sloppy kiss on me before taking over the bathroom, not even bothering to close the door. When I bump into Alex at the threshold of her bedroom, a touch on her sensitive belly stops her from moving so that I can kiss her too. "Definitely worth the wait."

That smile could light up New York.

After a quick mopping off, I climb back into the bed to snuggle into the blankets and warm up. Out in the dark house, Sam giggles at something Alex says and appears a moment later to light up with delight and join me in the warmth. We're halfway between asleep and ready for round two when Alex finally reappears. 

"Honestly, you brat, out."

For a moment, I'm confused until there's a plaintive meow from the floor. Alex sighs and sets a big steel water bottle and a couple apples on the tiny nightstand before crouching down. When she stands again, sure enough, Biscotti is snuggling in, talking away at her favorite. With an affectionate sigh, Alex tilts her head towards the living room.

"Back in a few."

We've downed most of the water and an entire apple before Alex slips back in.

"Hey! Share!"

Now Sam is an only child and Lex is so much older than I that we both giggle and squeal at Alex's surprise attack. Ripping off the blankets, she 'rarrs' like a terrible movie monster and manages to get in a wet mouth fart on Sam's ribs while she tickles mine. An elbow to the head doesn't even faze her and she somehow saves the bottle from dumping all over the bed.

"Now who's a brat?"

Sam's complaint lacks any heat and Alex just smirks as she drinks the rest of the water and takes an enormous bite out of the other apple.

"So you guys have totally done this before, haven't you?"

Even as she brightly asks the question, Alex is grabbing the blankets to toss them over us as she flops down on the bed hard to nearly launch us both towards the ceiling. The contrast between the nervous wreck and this casually brash thing is a little startling, but I love it. Sam grabs me to roll over and once more we are a big, warm pile.

I could get used to this.

"The college students are our favorites," I answer casually and delicately lick the glisten of apple juice in the corner of Alex's smile. Sam happily jumps in, even as she nuzzles at my shoulder and hands start wandering.

"Hell yes! Less likely to have fake IDs and generally in a mindset to be experimental." 

"And often thrilled to be cornered by a couple of hot older women." 

Alex huffs in amusement. "I hardly think you're old." 

"Hey, almost twenty-seven is old for a lot of them. And tall and smiley here left thirty behind a year ago!" 

"Oh sure, give away all my secrets, Luthor. Evil."

Now Alex laughs for real, joining in on the casual touching with enthusiasm. "I'm afraid my thirtieth was anti-climatic after getting kicked by an ostrich." 

"Was that just this year?" 

"Summer solstice nearly every year. The date changes."

"Oh, you smartass!"

The bantering and touches become kisses becomes another round in the sheets, our braided bodies having a better hang of it now. Having been pleasantly double-teamed, I'm enjoying watching my lovers, noting that Sam is still somehow still deferential to Alex's aggressive interest. It's a change glorious to watch, her slenderness trapped under Alex's bulk, their hips working together, mouths locked.

"You're getting frustrated," Alex murmurs against Sam's lips and I'm delighted at ever more proof of her sensitivity. "What do you need, gorgeous?"

Sam looks horny and a little cagey. Sometimes it's hard to be honest about personal things. Alex just kisses and nibbles at her neck, earning a groan.

"Mouth? Hands? There's some toys in the bedstand too."

After a moment of consternated pondering, Sam wiggles to be let up. "Let me see."

"Sure thing."

Alex rolls off, which has her mass squishing me up against the wall. Not that I mind, fondling the reddish hair and petting that fuzzy undercut. In only a glance into the drawer, Sam jerks a hot stare over to Alex and I can almost feel the smug on her.

"See something you like?"

That sexy purr in Alex's sweet voice does something to both of us and Sam stops hesitating and reaches in to pull out a nicely-proportioned strap-on. "Are you good with this?"

"Yep," Alex drawls arrogantly. "Let's get it on and I'll prove it."

Oh, this will be glorious!

With the ease of familiar use, Alex is on her feet and getting harnessed up, grabbing a condom and a little bottle of lube. Sam is flushed from ass to neck, looks almost nervous in addition to trembling with eagerness. This will be a treat for her, for while I'm happy to perform, frankly, I'm not athletic enough for her needs and she rarely if ever trusts a stranger enough to really get into it.

"You good?" Alex checks in gently as she climbs back into the bed, following Sam as she falls back.

"Yeah, I'm good," Sam answers quickly and there's no missing the breathlessness.

I snuggle in as close to the wall as I can to give them room to give me a show.

Alex does not disappoint, mouth, hands and questions going over to territory already covered, just to make sure everything is okay. There's no missing that Sam remains a little nervous, but also roughly pulls Alex in. This time when hips nestle, Sam makes a whole different noise, squirming while Alex settles in gently.

"You good?"

"Yeah. Come on!"

Now they're both breathless, Sam getting those glorious long legs wrapped around Alex's waist as the fucking starts in earnest. To get better leverage, Alex raises up on her hands and Sam's grip on those bunched arms I know gives her as much of a thrill as the main act.

Oh it's hard to keep my hands to myself as I watch Sam happily lose herself, crying out and clawing at Alex's arms and shoulders. I can't resist reaching out to pet the straining abdominals I've been lusting over for months, Alex whining needily and losing her rhythm for a moment, to Sam's noisy annoyance.

My cheeky grin earns me a double set of brown-eyed glares. "Oops?"

"You just wait your turn," Alex growls and it's as much threat as promise.

Lucky me!

It’s pretty rare that Sam isn't game for a marathon, the energetic dear. So, it's no shock to me that she's clamping down on Alex like a python, neck muscles straining, and still begging for more. When Alex shoots me a faintly desperate, questioning look, I grin widely.

"Oh, she'll let you know when she's done, stud."

Now Alex's natural feistiness is challenged and she shifts to get her knees under her for better leverage. With a couple of quick breaths, she's up for the dare for more and harder. Oh, Sam is going to be sore tomorrow, but I doubt she'll mind it much!

The workhorse is finally breaking a sweat, strokes even and powerful. She's a piston, not a jackhammer and I'm looking forward to testing her engine out myself! Orgasm three threatens to have Sam waking up the whole farm and putting some strain on Alex's sweaty back. Hopefully, this place is insulated for more than just the cold.

"You good, babe?" I ask when Sam seems to be conflicted about letting up on her deathgrip on a pleased Alex. Both are breathing hard, sweaty and sexy with exertion and I love it. Finally, Sam relaxes, both of them hissing when Alex's pulling out flexes fingernails into existing welts all over those muscled arms.

"Yeah… Guess all this R and R has made me weak. No stamina at all."

I just chuckle at the sass and kiss her. "Rest, Sammy. You've earned it."

"But I'll miss fun," she whines, eyes already at half-mast.

"Maybe, but there's plenty more where that came from. The warhorse isn't even panting yet."

That earns Sam's sweetest laugh and a sloppy smooch on my temple before she grins at our playmate.

"Hey, Alex? Definitely worth the one fifty."

Alex and I just laugh.


	26. An Apple A Day Won't Keep The Doctor Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So here we are, six weeks past the last update! Ouch. But better late than never, eh? As AgentCorpWeek2020 and my 12 Months of Christmas has me knee-deep in WIPs, I'm doing my best to allocate mental resources, since I love all my 'verses! 
> 
> Also, that first line of dialog there? Might be one of my favorite lines of all time.

\----  
 **Sam's POV**

"Her limbs are still. Did you break her?"

It's Alex's low chuckle more than Lena's whispered cheekiness that starts to push back the unfamiliar lethargy of sound sleep.

"She can't be that bad."

"Oh, Alex, you sweet, naive thing. You haven't met Hurricane Sam."

Despite my being brain-dead with a glorious overdose of sleep and sex, that needs some sort of comeback! Though the guttural zombie noise that escapes me like a deflating balloon isn't what I had in mind. Still, I'm always happy to earn Lena's adorable giggle.

With a rustle of bedding and the surface shifting beneath me, warmth and heaviness is suddenly squashing me. I know Lena's weight, her soft hands and lush kisses, but now she has company in Alex's deliciously different contrast.

Yes, that high-pitched, utterly undignified, girlie noise is me. No, I can't hold it against myself because the sheer sexy hotness of them all over me is bliss.

While the kisses and touches feel amazing, even my hyperactive engine is low on gas and the whimper in my throat isn't really encouraging. The horrible snarl of hunger that shakes my bones nearly drowns me out, eliciting a laugh from Alex.

"Okay, that does it. I win, Lena. You can pout all you want about getting out of this bed and into clothes, but we all need food better than my snack stash can accommodate."

The bed shakes dramatically as I'm pretty sure Alex somehow climbs over Lena sprawled out mostly on top of me. Our synced whining becomes yelps as we're both whapped stingingly on the hip.

Okay, now I'm awake!

Murmuring sulkily, Lena feels me tense and rolls off so I can half fall to the floor getting my limbs to remember how they work. Alex laughs at my shambling rush, my vision not quite focused, and the 'attack' becomes a spinning hug.

God, but I like how she can manhandle me so effortlessly. 

It's embarrassing as hell, but there's no denying it. Look, I might generally be a top but if my butch daydream starts bossing me about then I'm not gonna say no. I like those muscles a lil' too much…

As though she can read my dumb, half-asleep face, Alex goes all coy and flirty, whipping out the sweet calf eyes and a kissable little smile. "I can offer a proper hot meal, depending on leftovers, and a shower."

That last word, singsonged teasingly, is enough to make me whimper again.

It takes some coordination and much sassy commentary --that I contribute little too as I am still a zombie-- before we're covered enough for a short jaunt to RV than clubhouse. Only, we're in for a small shock when the front door opens and cold air blasts us.

"I guess you were right about the snow," Lena quips to Alex's amusement.

"Didn't even feel it inside, huh? The bonus of a well-insulated house." There is pure mischief in Alex's smile as she wraps a gloriously thick arm around each of us to herd us into the ankle deep snow. "It also doubles as decent soundproofing. Though, I dunno Sam, you might be in for some tormenting from Lucifer."

I don't even try to stop the rude snort at the teasing. "I can handle that devil."

We stumble our way through ankle deep snow the thirtyish feet to the very dark RV.

"Guess the girls are having a sleepover at Camp Rambeau," I giggle like I'm stoned. Lena just shoves me at the bedroom where we can grab clean clothes and return to Alex. Who thankfully catches me tripping down the steps in proof that the whole walking thing hasn't rebooted in my brain. "My hero."

Some little part of my psyche that loathes any lack of self-control, the potential vulnerability of it, rages at acting like such a punch-drunk teenager. But Alex's seductive mouth on mine, Lena nibbling at my ear, is a damn effective 'fuck you' to that part of me.

The workhorse asshole makes me squeal like a little girl by sweeping me off my damn feet, grinning smugly and stomping down the length of the RV to the clubhouse. While I pride myself on being towards the toppier end of the spectrum, I can't complain about Alex's assertiveness. After all, it's what we've lusted after all this time! Y'know, besides the muscles. I'd hate it if I didn't like it so much, even with Lena snort-laughing at the show.

"You are hilariously unhinged on hunger, endorphins and too much sleep and sex," Alex teases, easily taking the three steps up to the deck.

"Well, you're not wrong," I agree cheerfully and set Lena off again where she's trying to open the damn door.

It's a quick, familiar trek to the kitchen where Alex unceremoniously dumps me onto the counter above the banquette so that she can flick on the lights and raid the fridge. I suppose I should try and get up, but frankly, it feels like too much damn work. Besides, Lena is gently stroking my forehead and cheekbones and I'm gonna fall asleep again…

The scent of bread, cold turkey and mayonnaise is like an adrenaline rush and I nearly bite Alex's hand to get to the sandwich she's waggling at me. It's like the leftovers of the gods, savory and plentiful. Shockingly, Lena finishes first and that pitiful expression has Alex looking wry and handing off the last couple of mouthfuls of her own sandwich to go searching for more. Half a roast chicken, a quart-sized mason jar of meatball soup, enough fruit to fill a bowling ball and a baggie of chocolate cookies finally sates the three of us.

Well, most of the cookies anyway, because Lena makes a high-pitched noise like an alarmed Chihuahua when Nia's voice suddenly says wryly, "hungry? That must have been some workout."

I'm too busy coughing up a crumb or twelve to catch Alex's stammering response. 

"Alex, it's Wednesday. You know this is video review day and I always make fresh bread and cinnamon rolls. Frankly, I wasn't expecting you to make it, seeing as you had a long night and all."

There is no mistaking the leering tease in there and, even as I catch my breath, Nia is laughing as she helps the other two sit me back up to catch my breath.

"Oh, put away the puppy eyes, Lena. They won't be ready for another couple hours. I just came in to check to see that everything is rising right and, what all the racket was about."

Now I feel bad, joining my lovers in looking pathetic, once again making Nia laugh.

"Oh stop, honestly. Any annoyance you might have caused will be paid in full for the amount of shit you three are in for."

That gets us moving, cleaning up our mess and racing for an escape.

\----  
 **Alex's POV**

Blearily, I hear voices, Ruby calling out, "might not wanna..."

How is her voice carrying through the walls?

Even as my brain wakes up with a blast of adrenaline, the bedroom door thumps open, Kara yelling, "Alex! You never sleep in late!"

I think most of the four of us in the room make various noises of dismay.

Looking and sounding like a horrified Disney cartoon character, Kara's bulging eyes flicker from where Sam has raised her head in front of my own panicked vision, and Lena makes a sleepy sound of amusement and squirms closer to my back.

"I'll… uh… just go," Kara squeaks and nearly trips herself in racing out.

Well, at least the pets are happy, having zipped through the open door to jump on all of us. BP is terribly unsure of the strangers-ish in my bed, shaking with nerves. So I squirm onto my back and sit up to focus on my rescue dog, hugging her close to soothe her fears of things changing around her.

"Shhh, I got you, good girl. Who's the best dog? Yes you are."

"Tossed aside for the dog," Lena more teases than complains and I find myself smiling, even as I never look away from BP's sweet eyes.

"Better than her being a nervous pisser in bed."

That gets them moving! It's pretty funny, because while I was a city girl before this farm adventure, being a doctor had rendered me immune to any gross out factor years ago.

"We never did make it to the shower," Lena complains mildly as she and Sam start getting dressed. It's a disappointment to watch their beautiful skin hidden away once more.

With BP calm and snuggled into the warm covers for the moment, I can take up the small space beside the bed now freed up with Sam walking out. Normally, I could be fully dressed in a matter of a few minutes, but Lena is a tickling distraction. In the light of day, I'm not fully certain how to behave around them.

"Second thoughts?" Lena asks softly and I guess my thoughts were written all over my face.

"Not at all… but now what?"

For all that she was utterly self-assured in seducing me, Lena looks nervous now, distractedly tracing my abs. The thrill of the touch is threatening to derail my paying attention to the seriousness of the moment, but I manage. Barely.

"I don't actually know. This is new territory for me and Sam."

The green eyes are soft when she looks up and I smile reflexively.

"But we like you."

"I like you too. Both of you. That can be enough?"

The lilt of question brings on her brilliant smile and a quick smooch before I'm left to hurriedly get dressed.

"That is more than enough."

We all come together at my front door, a group of amusement and nerves for the shit-storm we're about to weather. With lots of unsure words rattling around in my head, I forgo them and grip both lovers to me and squeeze until they giggle breathlessly.

"You guys are great. Thanks. For everything."

"You're welcome," Sam murmurs, rubbing her nose against my ear. "But you're not getting rid of us yet."

"Nope," Lena agrees.

"Good."

So, braced with hugs and sweet reassurances, we brave the morning. Only we stop in our tracks in surprise. As does Bissy, who shot out ahead of us.

"I see last night was only a preview. When you said it was going to snow, this is more than expected."

Sam and I can only nod along to Lena's comment. There has to be well over a foot of fluff laid out as far as the eye can see. Bissy sniffs at it and yowls in complaint.

"You guys can go grab showers and I'll take care of her tiny highness here."

Bissy 'uufs' in that whiny cat way of hers as my big human hands grab her to give her a smooch and set her on my shoulder. From out in the old garden, the girls have spotted their moms, racing through the snow to jump on them, Lily chattering up a storm and Ruby sly enough that I'm cowardly glad not to be over there. Not that I'm going to be spared for long with the way Lucy is marching over.

I couldn't be any more grateful to be hailed by Maria.

"Middle Danvers! Get your butt over here right now! You missed breakfast and I know your engine is starved, no matter your raiding the kitchen this morning!"

"Yes, Mom," I mutter and slink off to the clubhouse. Somewhere, Carol is laughing at me, I just know it.

I'm only moments behind my new lovers, catching the tail end of Lily giddily telling of her continued adventures with the apple tree. The thought of her exaggerating needing the tractor bucket to help is gone when I see just how many apples there are. 

There are a good dozen buckets full, plus the huge cooler Lucy bought years ago to chill drinks in hotter weather has been dragged in. It's nearly overflowing in floating apples, the faint smell of bleach in the air.

"Hope you guys like apples," Nia calls out merrily as she strides in, wiping her hands on a towel. "Because we have stacks. It turns out there's a whole old grove of these trees speckled among the firs on the earth berm that dams the pond. Bet they were planted to hold the dirt in place when it was piled up. I can't believe we missed them. Seems only fair that the tree that tried to take your head off provides plenty of goodies in penance."

Lena carefully holds in her amusement, even if it requires a hand over her face, but Sam seems torn for a moment before stooping to pick up one of the red and yellow speckled fruit.

"Well, I was denied my snack yesterday," she says primly and takes a huge bite much to Lena's noisy delight.

"Are you trying to tell me something, sis?" I ask and Nia looks at me oddly. "You know, 'an apple a day, keeps the doctor away?'"

I almost don't get breakfast for that.

With some quick scrambled eggs and some sausage saved from the earlier meal in my belly, I'm off to face the firing squad. Shockingly, everyone is completely chill, though I can sense the evil brewing in my best friend. The distraction of an overdue job and Kara's continuing embarrassment keeps the evil at bay for now. Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better.

Normally on a Wednesday, we'd be pulling the pasture-mobiles to a new patch of grass for the chickens within, but the unexpected snowstorm has changed that. Now, we have to wrangle them into hastily constructed crates to be carted off to the hoop houses until tomorrow. Tomorrow, weather willing, we'll cart the whole mess off to a neighbor's to be harvested. The pigs too, which no one will be overly sorry about. Don't get me wrong, there's a reason we're hiring the task out, because none of us has the stomach for it, but the pigs have gotten huge and beyond terrifying. Next time, we're going to be more careful of breed, going for something smaller and easier to manage.

Eventually there's a smaller pen for the big pigs and we get them moved. In fact, it turns out to be easy with a bucket of apples as bait, but still nerve-wracking. The text message on the group chat to head in for an early lunch is welcome.

It also gives Lucy an opening to zing me.

"We'll need to look into upping the soundproofing on the green house."

The deadpan makes me flush, Carol cracking up while Kara and Brainy just look disgusted.

As opening salvos go, it's a pretty harmless one. Which means, of course, that I can't keep my stupid mouth shut. 

"Really? I'll just have to let Maggie know that you're intimating that you thought the soundproofing was adequate."

Carol actually stops walking she's laughing so hard and the Kara-Brainy duo share a look before taking off at a brisk jog. Lucy merely narrows her eyes, the shift to 'work shark' Lucy shifting over her whole frame. Oh boy, I'm in for it now!

Then she shocks the hell out of me. Really, you think I'd know better than to assume anything about my best friend and her mercurial mood and mind.

Abruptly going completely gentle and not a little vulnerable, she simply asks, "do you know what you're doing?"

And… I really have no answer.

\----  
 **Lena's POV**

Things are unexpectedly tense at the homestead.

It makes me feel bad, which sucks, because last night had been everything I dreamed of. Oh, there's no doubt that it is universally caused by our little outing last night, the rest of the crew and Ruby eyeing the three of us with various states of emotion.

When Alex strips off her warm layers on her torso to reveal that Sam and I were not kind to her skin last night, the way Kara sputters like a cold diesel engine doesn't help any. Though it's a relief to see how Alex is both awkward and cosmically smug. Carol high-fives her while Lucy can only stare.

I notice Sam avoids that sharp-eyed lawyer glare as well.

Lunch is the usual sumptuous affair, albeit one with an excess of apples. There are muffins and traditional crepes and applesauce is simmering away in several pots at the stove, there are four pies in the oven and a whole haunch of pig is slow cooking in the outdoor woodstove with an equal amount of the fruit. There are four buckets of scraps and rejected fruit ready to be taken out to the animals and it seems like Nia has only made a dent in the mass.

Sam is looking a little sulky at the running gag of the apples, until Lily brings her a cloudy cup nearly overflowing with freshly-squeezed juice.

"Me and Ruby helped Maria with a neat machine that smooshes all the apples into a gross mess and squeezes out all the juice! Taste!"

The look on Sam's face, not to mention the low sound she makes, is far too reminiscent of last night. By the way Alex freezes and stares, she felt that same jolt.

I choose to ignore the deepening speculation on Ruby's face as she brings me a glass and down the whole thing. While it was meant to help cool me off, it's also obscenely delicious.

Pitchers and pitchers of the stuff come out for the whole gang, some with slush still floating on the top. 

"It's just nice, clean snow," Maria says with amusement as she plunks down a white bucket of the fresh powder from outside. Everyone is delighted, the awkwardness forgotten, as bowls and spoons are brought to the table and we all get the strangest snowcones of our lives.

With lunch over, we are drafted into 'The Great Chicken Hunt'. The girls are delighted, including Sam, but I'm not so sure about this. As I remember from the videos, there are several small flocks loose around the farm, having broken away to do their own thing. But winter is here and they need to be put in the hoop coop once more.

Easier said than done.

While the damn birds might not be dangerous like their enormous cousins, they are shockingly fast and can fly for short distances! Falling into a soggy patch of pasture --which at least thankfully seemed to be poop free-- has me perching on the railing to watch and cheer on the troops. 

At least the locals loosen up and become their noisy, gregarious selves once more. They even continue to try and keep the cussing down. Though when Lucy lets loose after nearly getting spurred in the face by an angry rooster, I can't hold it against her.

Several times Alex is laughing too hard to even walk, much less give chase, and I'm not doing much better. Between Sam's hamming it up as she races around like a maniac and Lily's disorganized chaos, how could we resist? At least they finally wear out the chickens enough to be herded into a roughly-constructed trap of tattered greenhouse plastic. 

There are several of the big roosters and they are put in ramshackle cages of wire and plywood. The hens from each flock are housed separately, but left together. When Lily asks why, Alex looks pained, but is gently honest.

"Well, we don't keep roosters here. Not just because they're annoyingly noisy, but because they get aggressive as they get older. So, they'll go with the meat birds tomorrow."

It dampens the free-spirited romp in the snow, but even Lily nods in acknowledgement. My girls are so smart and adapt so well. Even past the shock of reminder where meat really comes from.

The rest of the day is spent at the aviary and building winter shelters for the hordes of cats Alex lays claim to but none of us have seen. Then again, we haven't seen most of the cats we know exist either. 

Alex goes above and beyond to keep the girls occupied, getting Lily to sing along with a surprisingly good knowledge of Disney songs and finding tasks and conversation ideas for Ruby. Sam and I are pretty much on our own, Alex's studiously near-avoiding us understandable in the group setting. Still, the lack of her stings a little bit. Even as the farm crew radiates a tangible sense of silent warning.

The protectiveness is sweet and disconcerting as a glare.

After a dinner rushed through by most of the farm crew, Kara and Maria join us for a video conference with Winn to go over what he has for the upcoming video. He's done a great job of keeping our presence discrete, never a really good look at any of the four of us.

"There's plenty of footage I didn't use if maybe you'd like a video scrapbook at the end of your visit," he offers cheerfully and I have to object at least a little.

"You don't need to put out any extra effort for us, Winn."

His smile is wry. "I think for what you did, we can put out a little extra effort, Lena. How about a short, school-skewed version and then something longer and funner for just the fam?"

The girl's excitement is answer enough. 

That settled, we head out to our temporary home to chill for a bit. It's not just me that looks longingly at the homey little house with its green steel siding and warm light, Sam lingers at the steps of the RV too. But tonight is for our daughters, left behind last time it was dark. For all that we want to carry on with the fascinating woman hard at work somewhere out there in the night, we hold hands and head in to be good moms.

But, falling asleep that night, wrapped up in Sam's familiar arms, I can't help but miss Alex's body twined with ours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shatterpath a few days working around the farm settles even Queen Restless a bit. A wild night with the triad and Lena witnesses the miracle that is sam sleeping quietly, little more than faintly twitching and mumbling. "Her limbs are still. Did you break her?"  
> daskey shgighisjkdgh “did you break her?” that’s iconic
> 
> shatterpath next day -GASP- Alex... SLEEPS IN. This has never happened since they moved. Lucy tries to stop Kara from barging in, even Ruby's like, "might not wanna..." Cue scandalized Puppy rushing back out, red as a sunburn.  
> mandylynnw Oh god. That’d be a fantastic scene. Because even Kara would be like “they probably just fell asleep watching tv”
> 
> daskey ugh i can't WAIT for more. also i can see a hint of that mutual thirsting... lol i love reigncorp. "arms!!!!" "no, abs" "no... a r m s" how about you're both right  
> shatterpath amen!  
> Sam will eventually get her chance to grip as hard as she wants to those arms while getting railed  
> in any reality, Alex is the sort to loooooove getting clawed up by her lover in the throes of passion. FITE ME.  
> daskey aghidsukfgjsdfhfg oh my gosh, you’re so right. she wears her marks with pride.


	27. Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit shorter, but I like it's pacing, so it stays. :)
> 
> As in some past chapters, there is a plotline of animals used for meat. One of the reasons I would sell a kidney for my own homestead is to raise my own, to treat them with kindness and good food while they are with me. How better to respect what we eat?
> 
> Also, I can't even imagine how I would even wrap this up in only 2 more chapters, but damned if I have a CLUE what the final count will be.

\----  
**Lena's POV**

We've behaved ourselves for nearly two days.

I hate it.

Okay, so Thursday's all-day marathon of loading the meat animals and hauling them off was a legit excuse to be separated from Alex. Who came home exhausted and clearly a little weirded out and the whole farm crew was very quiet. They packed a giant chest freezer I hadn't even noticed out in the barn with boxes and boxes of meat in heavy shrink-wrap bags and carted even more off to the clubhouse. 

Notably, we eat vegetarian that night.

With darkness a primordial black around us, everyone retreats to their beds. The loaded look Alex fires Sam and I feels like a caress, rough and loving. Cuddled up in our borrowed bed, the girls close, we sleep fitfully, missing the presence of her beside us.

Now it's Friday, everyone still subdued but troopers about their chores. To be honest, the family and I feel awkward around them for the first time since getting here a week ago. But they quickly put on a brave face and get us involved again. We didn't want to touch any of the projects without supervision, but with Alex and the others rallying, everything gets moving again. The tables are coming along, Carol and Kara making a laughing mess over trying to weld together some legs for the huge cedar slabs, and Lucy pitches in with the careful dismantling of the old piano with Ruby and Alex. Sam and Nia keep Lily occupied mostly with playing with the kittens and hanging out with the young ostriches. Conveniently, Monica is off of school today, which is also good for everyone. God knows I'm grateful as hell, because I'm too distracted to mom properly.

Not that I'm the only one.

Sam is downright subdued when not forcing a brave, energetic face for Lily, and Alex might appear to be trying to avoid paying us any attention, but I feel the burn of that dark gaze enough to leave my nerves jangled.

While there have been a few sly teases from the farm crew to keep us informed that we're not fooling anyone, they've been remarkably hands off. Not at all what I expected. But their bonds, the family of them, is one of the things I loved about them long before I met them. 

Luckily, the snowstorm is a one shot, the pale, wintry sun fighting with gloomy skies to warm the ground before true winter sets in. Good thing too, because I have no idea how we --well, Sam-- would deal with that damn RV on snowy, icy roads!

Thinking about leaving makes my soul hurt in disconcerting ways.

The sun is winning right now and Alex has pulled out her worktables on wheels, extension cords trailing back to the shop. She and Lucy have continued to supervise Ruby as the bits of now-dismantled piano are getting sanded down to bare wood in preparation to becoming something the builder never envisioned. Lily is fascinated by the task of melting down hundreds of bits of aluminum, tossing the pieces into Kara's makeshift crucible and flicking away the few ants persisting in the cold. When the red-hot steel cup is mostly filled, Kara and whichever adult is close by, grabs the handles welded on, and tips the molten aluminum into a couple of old muffin trays. The growing pile of silvery pucks are far more wieldy than the mountains of scrap! The savory smell of wood smoke and slow-cooked meat fills the air in warm counterpart to the crispness of winter looming close.

It's like nothing I have ever experienced and it sinks deep into my bones.

Today I have alternated between helping Nia in the kitchen and curling up on one of the lounge chairs on the deck. Even in the cold, I've dozed off several times, comforted by the sounds of farm life around me. If I really cared to make the effort, there are plenty of things to get involved in, but I'm relishing being home base for my girls, each of them wandering over for cuddles or a bit of conversation when it strikes them. Ruby seems energized by all of this, and Lily strangely calmed, Sam seesawing between the two extremes. 

The calm of Sam and Lily in particular is fascinating. They have always been active quarks, New Yorkers to their bones, as driven as the city that is home. Yet here is my wild spark, hours of feeding old aluminum to a glowing bed of coals, and my lover, enamored of cuddling kittens and sanding wood.

And me, snuggled into blankets and old rugs and secondhand clothes, breathing in the cold.

Hollow footsteps on the deck alert me to company, Nia appearing beside me, her expression thoughtful, a mix of peaceful and scarred.

"I almost left more times than I can count," she says quietly, the fading day seeming to embrace her and the heavy words. "To stay after my blood turned on me so violently for not growing into the man they wanted me to be, was really hard."

Yes, I'm startled; I had no idea. But it doesn't change how I feel about my new friend and file away the information and keep my attention on her.

"But this is the sort of place that becomes part of the soul if you let it." The gentle smile she turns on me has a weight beyond her years. "And the people. You'll see."

And with that enigmatic proclamation, she hops down the pair of steps and strides across the gravel road to shoulder up beside Sam and help smooth wood.

Alex notices Lily has finally run out of aluminum garbage and goes over to her, stripping off stained work gloves. Wiggling tickle-monster fingers make my daughter squeal with laughter and Alex turns the tickle into brushing her down in case any ants hitched a ride.

Cheerfully thanking Alex and giving her waist a big hug, Lily bounces over to flop on me. It takes a real effort of will to fight down my natural revulsion of potential insect hitchhikers, but I manage. For cuddles, it's worth it.

"I like it here," Lily says simply, her voice soft and dreamy. Off in the trees, a stellar's jay sends up a racket of sound that earns a giggle.

"Yeah, me too."

Some time passes as the skies put on yet another beautiful dusk show. Pretty soon the gang will begin putting away their busy tasks and slapping sawdust from their clothes. Laughter and good feelings will follow the lot of us off to that delicious-smelling dinner.

But first, Lily has a twist for us.

"Mama you look tired."

Gee, thanks, kid. Trying for nonchalance, I can hear the forced quality of my reply. "Its, uh, quiet. The quiet is just probably getting to me. It's hard to relax after a lifetime of New York."

Lily leans away from the hug to give me a long look. "Didn't your slumber party relax you?"

There is a beat when I swear even the trees and birds freeze. Then Lucy deliberately clears her throat. Loudly. Sam and Alex jump in perfect sync, eyes like saucers. Carol chokes on a scoff she turns into a cough, fist up to her mouth to hide her grin. The triple threat of Maria, Nia and Brainy all giving the trio of us deadpan looks makes even Sam blush like a sunburn. Which she doesn't do --sunburn that is-- but my mind is wandering in a panic.

Let's see if I'm as smart and adaptable as I think I am.

"Well, sure, the slumber party was a lot of fun, but we had BP and Biscotti to keep us company, and it's never completely quiet with three people around, you know, unless we were sleeping. Which we absolutely did. Sleeping that is."

Oh my god, Lena, shut up!

If a seven-year-old can look pitying at her mentally foundering parent, mine is doing just that. Then she shrugs it off with a cheerful grin. "You should do that again, so that you get some sleep. Monica's gonna let us stay over again, so we have our own slumber party." Raising her voice up, she bellows, "you're coming too, right Ruby?"

Ruby may not be my biological offspring and we might not have met until she was nine years old, but that dangerously blasé look? She learned that from me.

"Sure thing, runt. After all, we wouldn't want moms short on sleep, now would we?"

I really hope I'm imagining the faint leer in her voice. The way Sam seems helplessly rendered mute by all of this is proof enough that she's in the same boat. Alex looks like a deer in headlights and Carol trots off into the dimming evening to get a grip on herself. 

Thankfully, that is as good a signal for cleanup as any. Projects are stowed while I gratefully slink away on Nia's heels to escape the barely subdued hilarity of Team Lanvers and my astute girls.

Chores take time and we fill it with finishing dinner up. With experience, Nia has a feel for when the others are done and headed in. Tonight, things are a little weird though. With the slaughter of their animals fresh in the minds of us all, no one wants to reach first for the delectable vittles laid out.

Thankfully, these are good hearty people with wonderful souls. 

It's Maria that clears her throat, every eye jumping to her. "I'm not a religious woman, but I'm very thankful for the animals who are keeping us fed. Thursday was hard for all of us, but knowing exactly where our food came from makes at least myself all the more grateful for this."

The three kids relax as much as half the adults at the table and pretty much everyone murmurs agreement to the wise words. Tension broken, we get to the business of dinner and the usual rambunctiousness. Then it's showers and overnight bags for myself and my girls and trooping over to the Rambeaus for their sleepover. 

It's later than we'd meant to be, the world around us a fathomless blackness that makes my citygirl heart beat faster. Sam feels it too, I can tell by the way she clings to the hand I slip into hers as we make our way over to the green house.

What we hadn't expected was the sight of a weary Alex, hair tousled from being washed and left to dry messily, in loose silk pajama pants and a camisole with real handmade lace at the collar. The silk is real, and old; out-of-fashion floral prints tracing over the shape of her. I pride myself in knowing my fabrics.

The contrast makes my mouth dry as all excess moisture flees south. I would have never thought of this from tough-but-sweet Alex.

\----  
**Alex's POV**

I tried to be cocky about it, especially to Lucy, but they've really rocked my world. Even if I'd try to deny it, the soft, concerned look in her eyes makes me self-conscious of the blistering feelings that don't feel like they should be my own.

They're not mine to have.

The feelings or the stunning women that grew them.

I've been playing at my real life as raw as an exposed nerve, jumpy and hyperaware. Now the two of them are on my doorstep, nervous and needy.

And letting in the night's cold.

Without a word, I stand aside and they get the hint. In a loaded quiet, they hang up warm layers on the rough hooks I made months ago from old horseshoes I found in the barn. My welds still aren't great, but they were terrible then and I'd spent hours grinding them into something that didn't look like iron diarrhea. Then to get the color even, I'd done what I'd seen a lot of DIY-type YouTubers do, heating them up and dropping them into a bucket of old oil. Which promptly lit on fire. That had been a great video, with me dying laughing and Brainy having the sense to slap a steel tray over the flames before they melted the plastic.

The baseboard heater kicks in, the tick-tick-tick of its warming metal loud in the quiet. As much as I prefer the wood fire, sometimes it needs a little help. 

"Jammies," Lena suddenly bursts out a little hoarsely and I can't help but cock my head curiously. "The jammies. They look comfy. Silk…"

It's kinda cute how rattled she is, Sam a wide-eyed and mute counterpoint beside her.

"Sensitive skin," I remind them gently, our night together thick in the room. "This is the only stuff big enough left that I haven't torn up. And it's getting thin with use. I just needed the comfort tonight."

Now they both look like frightened little owlets and Lena's voice is even fainter now.

"Do… do you want us to go?"

For a moment, I almost say yes. It would be easier, less complicated. But being true to myself has been a lesson happily learned in this wonderful place. With a shake of my head, I open my arms and they rush to hug me and one another.

"No. I'll always want you to stay."

It's a strangely unintense reunion, me nuzzling their heads and sending them off to raid my closet for comfies if they want. I putter about my nightly routines, love on my four-footed friends, brush my teeth, make sure the woodstove is secure for everyone's safety.

Then it's a quiet trade-out with my lovers --I honestly don't know exactly what to call them-- to clean up. My queen-sized bed hardly seems big enough for me and Bissie some nights, but it has to manage the greatly expanded human presence. As it is, there's barely enough room to move in this tiny bedroom. Sam comes back first, still quiet as a mouse and just as hesitant. I stay where I am, relaxed on the bed with my hands resting on my belly. After an indecisive moment, she clambers over me and takes advantage of my opened left arm, snuggling down into my shoulder.

It feels so good to be held again.

With Lena not yet joining us, I wrap Sam up tight, gripping her lanky frame close. "Missed you," she whispers. "We both did."

"Me too." Determined to lighten the mood, I do my best to tease, "think of all the nights we could have been doing this, if I hadn't been such a gay disaster." It gets the giggle I'm after so I run with the theme. "Look, I'm notorious for being single-minded in my focus, so I was only paying attention to one or the other of you, not the duality of both and that you were paying me the attention I was craving."

Not only does Sam's body relax into the cuddle, but her voice has eases as well. "If only we'd known a little warm up in the barn would reel you in, we'd have cornered you days ago." Abruptly, she rises up onto her elbows, flicking aside strands of hair as they make me squint being near my eyes. "And then you had to go and get me off my game, bossy. I'm normally the toppy sort, dammit."

There's no heat to the complaint and I'm equally smug as sheepish. "You don't seem to have minded the results."

"Smug," Sam chastises lightly and gives me a little smooch. The casual affection feels good, particularly as awkward as we were at the door.

"Well, yeah. You two are amazing."

"You too." 

Soft again, Sam traces over my facial features and I relax beneath the gentle caresses. She's such a firecracker and this slow pace is a nice new facet.

"I admit, at first it was just raw lust, but then we got here and damned if you aren't actually as likeable as you seem to be onscreen. Potent stuff."

Yeah, I really should keep them at arm's length, try and save myself from the heartbreak that will come with that RV driving away. But, tugging Sam's head down for a proper kiss --and aware of Lena watching us from the doorway-- I just can't deny being with them.

Part of me wants to talk, or at least keep indulging in these slow, languid kisses that Lena joins us in. The need in all three of us burns, but it's a banked fire under the exhaustion of separation. Sam comes to rest half on my torso, Lena snuggled tight to my side. In the blended heat and weight of us comes a peacefulness that eases us to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update, you get a mixed bucket of old IMs because there is some great stuff in here!
> 
> The final scene as inspired by…  
> daskey- up and talking and being in each other's space and slow languid kisses. and they both intend to sleep, but there's just something about how one of them lingers in the doorway, stares at the other in bed...
> 
>   
> daskey- i don't know what context we'd have THIS look in but you can bet it'll be there  
> shatterpath- WAIT. Alex has a simple fetish. She sleeps in soft, girlie things. Finds them soothing  
> daskey- bdkgjskgj omg. yes  
> shatterpath- dungeon troll of the fires when working and silky princess while sleeping.  
> daskey- buys up the fancy silk and lace and just hoards it. since she dresses for comfort and practicality all day  
> shatterpath- yeah she's all sportsbra and cotton shorts-style underwear when awake and silky stuff to relax in. her skin must get so SENSITIVE  
> daskey- KAHFKS YES. tiny floral silk shorts. imagine the BOOTY  
> shatterpath- and yes, Alex has been reduced down to a few pieces that are falling apart and some silk men's boxers found on clearance because of various holiday themes. They don't last as long because she has to handwash, not dryclean  
> daskey- agisudjkfgh, i’m still imagining alex’s butt in those silk shorts. i love how she’s just a whole lotta contradictions
> 
> shatterpath- I was telling dreamsescapeus about the silky jammies and that THIS image has been sitting on my screen makes all of this 1000% funnier  
>   
> that pic cracks me up. it's both sexy AND silly  
> daskey- sjgdfhhjg i love how this showed up after we were talking about alex’s sexy underwear  
> like that’s the kind of reaction she’d have if sam asked her about the little bit of lace she spotted the night before  
> shatterpath- bahahahhha! RIGHT? the hilarious thing is that the uniform out of context could be really heavy long underwear!  
> daskey- unexpectedly flirty and sam’s just like o.o
> 
> And from WAY back in the creative process! Lol.  
> daskey- so, i hear u be wanting buff alex huh  
> shatterpath- BAHAHAHAHAHAA! Mandy puppy-eyed you, huh? -cracks up-  
> SHE was the one putting up underwear ads! just because i HAPPENED to decide just last night that Alex wears knee-length briefs (only made for men it turns out) under her Carhartt was happy coincidence! so now reigncorp can get a sexy andro strip tease  
> daskey- woah knee length or like the shorts  
> shatterpath- knee length! i figure that heavy-ass material much chafe like crazy given the chance. and you KNOW Sara is more than smartass enough to bring her actual Y-front briefs to her knees. Skin-tight and stretchy and stops the chafing. in winter, she'll go to actual long underwear, the more pairs the better to stretch out having to do laundry.


	28. Hearts In Balance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I, and this story, are indeed still alive!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, ages ago Panyan requested Ginger and the Crazy White Chicken, the Escapee Chicken Wives. Glad I could slip in the reference!
> 
> mandylynnw- I think Lucy would ask “so did you get everything you wanted out of this?” But with the Lucy leer.  
> (Your wish is my command, M!)

> **the aviary, kittens, the great chicken hunt and the first snow of the year! October 18- October 24.  
>  0 views  
>  Rainbow Haven Acres  
>  Published on October 25, 2017**
> 
> It gave Lucy a sense of power to soak up the faint surprise on Lena and Sam's faces when she walked in, and not Alex. Good, because Lucy relished keeping potential opponents off balance. It made picking them apart so much easier.
> 
> "Okay, you two are stuck with me because, while I adore Alex, she is a useless gay."
> 
> The lawyer tone contrasted the teasing of Lucy's absent bestie and focused the New Yorkers. Not rising to the bait, both just regarded Lucy with various levels of impassive tinged with amusement.
> 
> "Just ramble on, ask and answer questions, whatever comes to mind. Winn will clean it up and edit it into coherency."
> 
> Sam settled into the couch more comfortably, slinging a casual arm over the back of it, warm against Lena's shoulders. For her part, Lena seemed a cat, aloof and not missing a thing.
> 
> "Will do," she agreed easily and Lucy grinned. While Lena might be all soft femininity, she was steely and dangerous in her own right. Lucy could respect that.
> 
> "Excellent! Here we go then. For Winn, I'll do a little intro. Hey folks, we're doing something a bit different today. I'm here with our nice patrons Lena and Sam. They're visiting and you'll see them here and there in the video, but discretely so as not to make a big deal. Not everyone wants to have their lives on display."
> 
> Lucy's chuckle took any sting out of the words.
> 
> "Or alternatively, some people are lucky enough to be able to go back to having a private life?"
> 
> It earned the amusement she was after, Lena and Sam quirking smiles. 
> 
> "So did you get everything you wanted out of this?" 
> 
> There was no mistaking the leer in Lucy's droll tone and Sam scoffed, getting a light elbowing in the gut by her partner.
> 
> "The visit has been wonderful," Lena said in a tone that tolerated no more shenanigans. "Everyone has been great and the farm is everything we could have hoped for."
> 
> It took effort for Lucy and Sam not to chuckle dirtily.
> 
> In that vein, Lucy couldn't resist trying to lighten the mood a bit, sprawling back into the couch and teasing wryly, "alright, LL, cough up the dirt. Why us?"
> 
> Lena fired back with a quick and dry, "it seemed a good place for some of that trust fund money," even as Sam added in her own dry snark.
> 
> "The views," became a laugh when Lena gave her a shove and whipped out the prim sassery.
> 
> "Yes, Samantha, this is a lovely environment in your mountains here."
> 
> "Oh, yeah, that too. That's also a nice view, yes."
> 
> Lucy joined in on the merriment, enjoying the company of the couple. Not great with kids and having picked up a bit of the distracted Alex's slack, she hadn't spent much time with them over the last week. She didn't begrudge the bit of extra work because Alex usually worked as hard as any four people. Still, Lucy wasn't completely certain why she'd risk a broken heart for these admittedly hot strangers.
> 
> Maybe she could find out.
> 
> "Having you four here has been a good reminder that not so long ago, we weren't exactly natives to rural life. It gets under the skin and lodged in the heart, even the stink of barn and muddy shoes and calluses like shoe leather."
> 
> "I don't know that I could ever get used to it," Lena responded, her mouth a little moue of distaste.
> 
> "Oh, I don't know," Lucy deadpanned and gestured at her companions. "You seem pretty comfy in Alex's old clothes."
> 
> Watching them both flush lightly made Lucy chortle in evil, delicious amusement.  
> 

  


\----  
**Sam's POV**

It's both fascinating and a bit disconcerting to see our first five days here broken down to a series of snippets playing out behind the interview. I remember the actions caught by Brainy and his cameras, watch me and the family meet the farm crew, see how they handled the RV while we were off in the barn getting geared up from Alex and Lucy's old warm gear. There's a moment where the panning of the camera catches Lena and Kara hunkered down over a pad of paper, looking for all the world like a couple of little kids. Off to the left, I see myself and the girls follow Alex to what I know was our first tour and meeting the animals. I get to watch the team unload the huge wooden slabs and our initial working them before the delightful nighttime cookout. Hilariously, somehow Brainy caught Alex pulling that 'kitten therapy' prank on me and my smile is warm at the memory. Watching the farm team being physical never gets old, the tattered hoophouse stripped to its steel skeleton before the firewood delivery.

Ah, good times!

While we'd been off shopping in Salem, the gang sans Alex rounded up the various critters to their winter housing and got up the posts that would become the aviary. It's so cute to see the girls and Lena in their new-old clothes, enthusiastically throwing themselves into helping piece together the aviary until I dragged my Luthors off to see the kittens. It's a relief that my stupid fall from the tree and all the accompanying chaos is completely edited out, though I secretly wallow in the sweet kiss Lena presses to my temple near the livid bruise on my forehead. 

Dinner that night shows myself and my lovers conspicuously absent from the crowd. Oops?

The snow now long gone has my girls rumpusing wildly with a laughing Kara, who then leads them into the woods. With shaky footage worthy of the Blair Witch Project, Brainy follows to catch the great apple roundup. Something in Lena's breath echoes my own alarm of Lily wandering far too close to the edge of the filthy pond and we're both grateful to past Kara for discretely herding her away from the potential danger.

Notably, there is no footage of the too-enthusiastic-for-morning Kara bursting into Alex's little house and the ensuing embarrassment. Bet there's parts of it in Winn's files though.

The video continues with the apple juice --and I need to go get myself more of that-- and nearly all of us out in the snow chasing down loose chickens. We look like idiots, but watching the footage of Lena laughing so hard she nearly falls off the fence she's perched on makes it all worth it. There are a few last shots of more aviary building and the girls helping Alex rig up winter housing for the stray cats that remain unseen around the farm.

The video fades to the sounds of Alex singing along with our girls to the familiar strains of 'It's a Small World After All'. The ending sandwich board of info that pops up after video shows for a few seconds and is replaced with Winn's hopeful grin.

After a moment, Lena makes me jump a little as she claps in delight.

"Winn! You did a marvelous job! Thank you so much for keeping our presence discrete, we really appreciate it."

"Impressive," I deadpan, knowing that Lena is going to slap my thigh. "You managed to edit out the thirsting."

Sure enough, Lena makes an aghast noise and gives me a little whack above the knee that makes me chuckle.

"Yeah, thanks guys," Winn play-sulks dramatically, "for making it sooooo easy to piece together something coherent from your leering chaos! I might remind you that there are automatic cameras in the low barn to keep an eye on the ostrich. Thank god there are no speakers!"

The delicate shudder turns the scoff of humor tickling my throat into a full-out belly laugh, and I'm not even faintly cowed by Lena slapping my leg again.

"As you can imagine, there's plenty of footage you two and big sister need to decide what to do with, because I'm not the blackmailing sort."

His sibling-esque disgust is every bit as real as Kara's would be and sets me to laughing once again.

\----  
**Alex's POV**

Rather than break our backs cleaning the south side of the chicken's hoop coop, we had all jumped on Nia's suggestion of letting the piglets do the work. They know well enough to stay away from electric wire now and that will keep them away from the weathered plastic walls. So I'm setting up said wire at the perimeter of the enclosed space.

"So, by letting the pigs root through this mess, it will get the dirty litter mixed into the soil underneath and we can use this spot for a garden next year," I automatically explain while stomping the tips of fiberglass rods into the ground. Specialized plastic doohickeys hold the wire away from the poles to keep the charge from grounding out. "We've even got electricity run to the shed-coop in the center so we don't have to rely only on a solar charger, which is not the most reliable way in the snow."

I'm talking on autopilot, simply narrating what I'm doing without a lot of fanfare. My brain is still on the dark hours before dawn, waking tangled in my lovers as though we'd done it a thousand times before. Lena's phone squawking had roused us, rumbling and reluctant, Lena huddled into my front while Sam was latched onto my back like a leech. 

"Thank you for protecting me from Hurricane Sam," Lena had murmured, kissing the underside of my chin while Sam snorted a rude noise and nuzzled even closer. The half-asleep memories of being jostled by the restless sleeper faded in her affections.

With surprising efficiency, we three maneuvered around one another to get dressed, make coffee rather than brave the clubhouse, and give the pets some affection. Even BP seems to be giving in to being smitten, sitting on Lena's shoes and getting loved on by the two no-longer-strangers in her life.

Even if I hadn't taken them to bed and become more than friends or acquaintances, I would have liked them strictly on the opinion of my rescue dog. Then it was off to the start of our day, longing looks traded in the sharp chill of late October.

I'm in too deep. 

The thought is on melancholy repeat deep in the recesses of my consciousness. 

I'm in too deep. 

As though conjured up by my whirling thoughts and feelings, I hear Sam's voice call out from nearby.

"There she is! Our hero of the day!"

From somewhere on the other side of the plastic, I hear Kara squeak, "me?"

By the additional noises, I'm pretty sure Kara just got ambushed into a double hug, Lena speaking with endearing sincerity. 

"Thank you so much for taking the girls out to collect apples and keeping them safe."

I swear, I can actually hear my sister blush. No matter my mixed feelings, the smile that stretches my face is completely authentic. It's still there moments later when the plastic and wood door rattles open to reveal my lovers. I'm alone in here and there's no hesitation in their crunching through the dirty litter to hug me.

Obviously, I toss the pitchfork aside and squeeze them close, trying to return Lena's kiss to the corner of my mouth, but distracted by the delicious liplock Sam has caught me up in.

Oh, poor me.

"Thank you for the nice sleep," Sam murmurs into the kiss and I relish her smile. "You make a great heat sink."

"Well, it's getting to be winter, so I appreciate your furnace," I tease back. "And I can modulate your energy so poor Lena doesn't get cooked."

Said Lena makes a rude noise, but is smiling where she has nestled into the warm space our bodies make.

The contrasts between them are fascinating, Sam so joyful but with aching shadows in her eyes, and Lena both aloof and loving.

How I wish I had time to really get to know them…

A racket of sound gives us some warning and we get in a last squeeze before separating and waiting for the incoming chaos. It's all three girls with the rest of the Danvers in tow, Lily squealing my name and coming at me like a rocket. I note the mix of suspicion and disappointment on Ruby's face before I have to catch the rocket and spin her up into a hug.

"Good morning, Alex! Can we go find eggs?"

"Absolutely! And we can find out if we had any escapees."

"Yay!"

It's a relief to be wearing a couple extra layers, because Lily launches off me with as much rough enthusiasm as she ambushed me. But she catches a hand on her way, dragging me after her. She's strong for her size!

Egg production has slowed with the coming of cold weather and shorter days, but with the whole lot of us working at it, we find a baker's dozen that will become breakfast. But first…

"Yep, I suspected that the Crazy White Chicken would find a way out," I sigh and take off my battered warm cap for a moment to rake back my hair. It's annoyingly itchy at this length, but is neatening up the soft butch look a good idea going into winter? Then again, I'd rather wrap up my damn head then let the mop grow out. I'll talk to Maria later; god knows she and Carol have gone above and beyond in keeping the girls occupied!

And so the day begins. Sure enough, CWC's partner in crime, the reddish-brown hen the girls immediately decide is Ginger from 'Chicken Run', has also escaped. I try to keep my attention on finding the crack they squeezed through, but the hilarious chaos of half the farm trying to corral the wily chickens is too much to ignore. Sam in particular is having a blast, a flurry of lanky arms and legs kicking up scattered patches of snow as she tries to herd the squawking chickens to the others. It's no use, even with seven sets of hands after them, the hens keep slipping away.

As dawn grows stronger, Lena regally walks into the craziness and they all part like the Red Sea. With a little scoop of chicken scratch, she somehow gets the escape artists to come to her, calmly picking Ginger up to hand her to Kara and impossibly, doing the same to CWC. Then she strides over to the hoop coop to set the hens down and shoo them through my half-completed repair.

"Sorcery," I compliment her and CWC tries to peck my hand. "Though apparently it only works on the tiny dinosaurs."

"Oh, I don't know," Lena teases and the sexy thrum of her voice has me warmed up instantly. "I cast a spell on you easily enough."

Lucy and Carol try and outdo one another in volume for laughing their asses off.

\----  
**Lena's POV**

We've been distracting Alex from her usual chores, and while part of me feels a bit badly about it… mostly I relish it.

As Biscotti is being particularly clingy today, Alex sweetly asks me to corral her little pal while there are dangerous errands afoot. Biscotti doesn't like the harness and leash, but when Maria brings over Goose and Chewie to play, at least she's distracted. I'm bundled up on a few straw bales that will go into the hoop house and make an excellent home base for the trio of cats.

Oh, how my life has changed!

It feels like hours that the gang has been at the back of the pastures that playtime and naps have been had and the cats miss their people. So I take a chance and take my furry entourage out to see them.

"They're wily little fuckers," Lucy greets me and laughs at the macramé the cats have made of their leashes, both of my hands and even one leg. It was an interesting walk, to say the least. "Did you finally find a critter who you can't charm?"

"Hey, I got them out here, didn't I?"

There's a more intimate note in Lucy's amusement that warms me. It feels like friendship.

I've arrived to witness the latest try in corralling the pigs. They might be small, but they're fast and clearly strong. At least the worst a chicken can do is peck or scratch! All I can think of is Alex's dire warnings about how dangerous they can be.

Frustrated and amused, the farm crew holds a quick conference, the camera swinging from them to the riled-up pigs. Finally, they rig up a board with hooks to trap the animals in their shelters. It's a pair of large plastic cubes wrapped in a steel skeleton that has had a rough door hacked into one side.

"What are those containers, anyway?"

Nia happens to be at my side and grins before answering. "They're called IBS containers. I honestly don't know what the acronym stands for. Liquids are shipped in them, you can see the openings on the top there. These are food safe containers, so it's safe for the pigs, they're strong enough to stand up to serious abuse and are easy to clean."

It takes three tries with all but one pig in the container and the latecomer letting the others get out, before everyone is exhausted, filthy and cranky, but at last, Carol slams the makeshift door in place while Lucy and Alex swoop in to use straps to secure it. The trio leans against the plastic and steel, Lucy muttering something that has the other two laughing.

They take a quick breather for rehydration and thermoses of warm, thick soup because no one wants those disgusting hands anywhere near food. Completely unselfconscious of the sharing, they pass around the snack and all drink from them equally. Even Sam and Lily get in on it, both willing to let another hold the bottle rather than touch the grimy exterior.

They've flourished so much here, the easygoing nature of this group and their lifestyle offering a haven for my wild girls. Ruby loves it more than she wants to let on, a relaxation to her I've never seen before. She's an intense girl, so much like me, an intellectual more in tune with observation than throwing herself into experiences like her mother and sister do. She snuggles up to my side to hold Goose up out of the snow, while my arms are full of Chewie and Biscotti is heavy and warm around my neck.

The best part about the containers is that they are meant to be moved by forklift. So with that attachment in place of the usual bucket, the big orange tractor trundles in under Kara's steady hand, the twin forks scraping into place under the squealing pigs. In a flurry of activity, the container is strapped tightly into place and lifted to be carried away to the barn.

Ruby and I share a wry look before following in the wake of the chaos. 

The double doors to the hoop coop are just wide enough for the big tractor to push its load through and set it on the crinkly hay. Then the gang descends to push the thing into place with sheer effort. I can't complain about the show as they all quickly strip to t-shirts in the still air under the greenhouse plastic. Watching Sam's lanky body straining beside Alex's muscular mass gives a girl ideas and I hope my drooling isn't too obvious.

Ruby's snort tells me I've failed and my flushed glare only makes her smirk.

The cats know what the quiet snap of the electric wires mean and smartly steer clear, sticking to the piles of plant-raising materials piled off to one side. 

"Let's drag in Lena's strawbale mountain," Kara orders and the gang rallies to both carry the bales and pile them onto the forklift tines to be moved. Which causes a hilarious collapse, one bale splitting and leading to a straw throwing battle. But eventually, the bales are piled around the IBS container and Lucy climbs atop it to release the straps and the makeshift door. For all that the eight young pigs fought being caught, they are clearly in no hurry to leave once the door is removed.

"Leave 'em," Lucy says brusquely. "They'll wander when they want to. Once they've ranged out to the hidey holes we made them with all the hay bale stacks, we'll snag the container to give it a good scrub. I don't know about anyone else, but I need a shower and cleaner clothes before I get back to work."

I don't begrudge Sam for discretely following Alex to the little green house. The girls are willing to help me out when I volunteer to prepare lunch and that will keep us occupied for some time.

Listening to the girls chatter and joke amidst themselves like an echo of their adults gives me a realization. Having them at boarding school has kept me from seeing what they are like around friends and peers. While they do have some pals in the neighborhood, that becomes more and more rare over time.

They're sad. I can see it in how they stick to Monica, the trio of them determined to fill every moment they have together. Particularly my baby with her big, generous heart and zest for life. Lily has never held back, throwing herself into every experience be it a temper tantrum or making a best friend.

I don't make them ask to spend the night with their pal and gently suggest it, so long as Maria and Carol are okay with it. That they decide to hole up in the RV disappoints me is a sensation I shove away. No matter my fascination with Alex, my girls come first.

To keep the girls distracted from the upcoming return to their normal lives, they're kept busy. Ruby is happy enough working on the old piano and various adults rotate around to keep her company. We even jump in to help… though it doesn't go to plan.

We stand side by side, faces scrunched up in concentration, working with laser-focus diligence, determined not to let this task beat us. We will make Sam and Alex proud of us…! …While we sand. 

Patience is not one of Lily's strong points and she goes at a piece of old wood too aggressively with the small power sander. Alex's jumping in to stop her makes Lily jump and then get upset as she's clearly damaged the wood. I'm startled from my own over-focusing, realizing that I've done the same.

Alex, meanwhile, squats and draws Lily into a big hug as she bursts into wailing tears. I wish I could do the same.

"Shhh, shhh, sweet girl, it's fine. Totally fixable."

With that effortless strength, she stands with Lily held close and those sweet eyes hold mine.

"You can't be good at everything right out of the gate. You have concentration and steady hands, now you just need a little time and more wood."

There's no resisting hugging them both, soaking up the feel of that heavy arm around me.

"I won't have a place to practice," Lily blubbers and clings to Alex like a leech. "I don't wanna go!"

Oh, my sweet baby, neither does your mama.


End file.
